A New Power: The Promise
by Imperial Acclamator 119830
Summary: Part Six of the 'A New Power' Series. The war was over. The world had known peace. But in the Magical World, nothing stays the same for long. The war will rage again, lives will be forever changed, and for the final time... history will be rewritten.
1. Reunion Tour

Disclaimer: I _totally_ and _completely_ own **everything** to do with Harry Potter and Charmed. Yup, I sure do.

**THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS A COMPLETE FABRICATION**

-.-

A/N: Okay, I actually can't remember how many times I've said the words 'last sequel', but this time it is one hundred percent true and I even have a binding legal document that won't allow me to continue past this one. I mean it.

-.-

**Chapter 1**

**Reunion Tour**

-.-

**GRAND FORUM, ATLANTIS. DECEMBER 19th, 2016**

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack. The sound repeated over and over again as Miley and Danielle's high heeled shoes clattered down one of the many corridors in the Grand Forum. The two girls raced toward the central meeting chamber of the Atlantean Ministry of Magic. A meeting was currently in session, so both young women knew that anyone who needed to learn of their news would be there.

It had been more than two years since Harry had been brought back to the good side and Catherine had returned to her time. Since then, the world had been in a state of relative peace. Both Hogwarts and Magic School had been rebuilt and were operating under the watchful eyes of the Atlantean Ministry, and under the protective wings of Aurora, or as her friends preferred to call her - Hermione. It was because of these things that Miley and Danielle's news was completely unexpected.

The identical twin sisters burst through the solid gold doors into the Ministry meeting chambers. The group of two dozen men and women looked up at them. Hermione, who sat at the head of the long, oak table, stood up. Her flowing white gown billowed around her, and she pushed her elbow length chestnut hair out of her cinnamon eyes, dark brown with a splash of gold.

"Miley," she said, her dark eyes narrowing slightly. "Danielle, why are you bursting in like this?"

"Mum," Miley said, approaching the table with her sister, her eyes taking in the curious expressions of the other Ministry members. "We were up in the Control Room when the news came down."

"What news?" Harry asked from his seat on Hermione's right side.

"We could hardly believe it ourselves when we heard, what with everything having been so quiet over the past two years, but it's true… it's happening everywhere."

"What's going on?" Harry pressed.

"We don't really know." Danielle said. "We started detecting massive waves of dark energy all over the globe."

"And what's causing it?" Harry wanted to know.

"Grindelwald's Dark Energy Towers." Miley said at once. "Since Mum put us in charge of the Control Room we've been studying any threats to the island, particularly the Dark Energy Towers. Our teams found dozens of the things that Grindelwald didn't activate back during the Second War. We thought they were inert… harmless. We were wrong. Thirty four of them just came online, and they're unleashing waves of destruction over every continent."

Hermione must have gotten all the information that she needed, because she acted immediately.

"Miley, get back to the Control Room and raise the shield. Lockdown the island as well, I don't want anyone getting in _or _out." She turned to Danielle.

"Danielle, contact the other ministries. I want casualty and damage reports immediately, then inform the ministers to fall back to Atlantis. Whatever's happening out there, we're going to need to unite together and Atlantis is the safest place to do that." Danielle was out the door immediately, quickly following in her twin sister's footsteps. Hermione then turned to Harry.

"Harry…" she said softly. "Your task is going to be the most dangerous."

"You know I'm ready." Harry told her, gently taking her hand.

"Harry, I need you to go to Hogwarts and Magic School. Deploy the shield potions we used during the war. The protection of those schools is our primary concern." Harry nodded and stood.

"I'll get it done, Mione."

"I know you will, Harry. Please, be careful."

"I will." Harry said, and he was off. As Harry scurried from the room, Hermione's eyes fell upon the other dozen ministry members in the room.

"As for the rest of you, return to your homes." Hermione said. "Take care of your families, but I'll want all of you back in six hours for an emergency briefing on everything we've learned from now until then."

Miley raced back into the room a moment later, a sheaf of parchment clutched in her hands.

"It's from the English Ministry of Magic… from Arthur." Miley said in a monotonous tone, passing Hermione the letter with trembling hands. Hermione took the letter and read it quickly, her expression growing darker the farther she read.

"Is he serious?" Hermione said, more to herself than to Miley.

"Yeah," Miley said. "He's serious."

"My god…" Hermione whispered. "He's launching a full scale assault on the German Ministry of Magic… that doesn't even…"

"That's not all, Mum." Miley said uncertainly. "We got this, too…" She handed over a second sheet of paper and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Where did this come from?" she demanded.

"The United States muggle government."

"Obviously, from who?"

"Their President, naturally." Miley informed her. "There are only a half dozen people in their government who know about magic."

"Grindelwald's towers, the magical world turning on itself…" Hermione brandished the letter. "Half the world's nations launching every nuclear weapon they possess… What the hell's going on out there?"

"I might be able to tell you." A familiar voice said from the doorway. Hermione and Miley spun around.

"I hate to say it," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "but I saw this part coming."

"It's becoming a bit of a pattern in our lives, isn't it?" Miley agreed.

"Is it my fault the only way to keep the world intact is to go back in time and fix something you all have fucked up?" Catherine asked, stepping into the room properly, her arms folded across her chest.

"Kat, what's all this about?" Hermione asked.

"It's about you, Mum." Catherine said. "Of course, everything these days seems to be about you."

"Who's responsible for all of this?" Miley pressed. Catherine smiled.

"Why, my dear sister… who do you think?" Hermione shook her head.

"That's impossible." she said firmly. "He's dead, Kat."

"We never found a body after that explosion at Hogwarts. Maybe he died, maybe he didn't. Even if he was dead, so was I… so were you, Harry, and many others that have come back from the world beyond this one. He's back, though, and he's determined to test you one last time."

"And how do you know that?" Miley wanted to know.

"I'm from the future, sweetheart." Catherine said. "In these situations, just assume that I'm smarter than you are."

"Still a smartass, I see…" Miley muttered.

"I'm guessing you've got a plan to fix all this, then?" Hermione asked.

"Not so much a plan as a vague concept, Mum." Catherine tossed Hermione an old, dirty, folded up piece of paper. Hermione opened it and stared at it for a second before shaking her head.

"Not a chance, Kat." Hermione said. "I'm not going back, honey… I can't."

"_You're _not going back." Catherine said smugly. "We _all _are."

"All…" Hermione began, but broke off when Catherine motioned toward the door. Through the golden doorway walked Elizabeth and Hope.

"We were at our strongest when we were all together, Mum." Catherine said. "So, I'm putting our family back together… just like we were in the Second War."

"How far?" Miley asked, her eyes narrowing.

"To where all this began… back to when Harry and Hermione found each other again. We'll do this just like last time. We'll send everyone here back to that point, then we'll use that spell that gives people back their future memories… the one you found in the Book last time, Mum."

"And then what?" Hermione asked. "Fight the war all over again?"

"No," Catherine said. "this time we'll have the upper hand. No one but us will know the truth about where we come from. We can strike when and where we want."

"Miley," Hermione said, her eyes locked with Catherine's. "Round up everyone we need. Get them back here, now." In a flash, Miley was gone.

"So," Hermione said, sinking back into her chair and looking up at Catherine, an expression of polite curiosity on her face. "are you going to tell me what's _really_ going on?" Catherine let out a small laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you honestly think I believed one single word you just said to me and Miley? I'm not stupid, Kat. Dumbledore's dead, we both know that. Now, I don't know if you've done something in the future and need our help in the past to fix it, or perhaps you've managed to kill someone and have to go back that far in order to save them. I don't know exactly what you've come here for, but I do know that you haven't told me the truth."

"Mum, I've been completely honest with you. Dumbledore's back, I've seen him. He nearly destroyed everything in my time just to get to you."

"Then why now?" Hermione wanted to know. "What's his plan, and why would he activate Grindelwald's towers and start a war between the British and German ministries of magic? How does that get him access to me?" Catherine shrugged.

"Mum, I don't know… but then, I'm not Dumbledore."

"No," Hermione said, more to herself than to Catherine. "No, you're not." The doors opened again and Miley led Harry, Danielle, and to Hermione's surprise, Draco, back into the room.

"Heard what was going on, figured I'd lend a hand." Draco said, giving Hermione a quick hug. "It's good to see you again."

"What's going on?" Harry asked Hermione. "What're _they_ doing here?"

"Saving your ass." Catherine said.

"Kat claims Dumbledore's back." Hermione explained. "According to her, he's the one responsible for all this."

"But he's…" Harry began.

"Dead, I know." Hermione interrupted him. "Maybe he's not. Look, I've learned to trust Catherine, and…" Hermione's eyes locked with Catherine's for the briefest of seconds. "She wouldn't lie to me."

"Okay, so what's the plan, then?" Harry asked.

"We go back in time again," Hermione said. "Wrap this whole mess up for good."

"Do you have any idea what we're risking?" Harry asked, staring at Hermione as though she were insane.

"I do," she said, her eyes settling only for a moment on Miley. "but I also know what we're erasing." She turned back to Harry. "A lot of terrible things have taken place. If we go back again, maybe… just maybe we can put things right at last." Danielle shrugged and took the paper Catherine had given Hermione with the time-travel spell written on it.

"What the hell," she said, casting a glance at everyone in the room. "What've we got to lose, right?"

"Just our lives." Draco muttered.

"So, we're agreed, then?" Catherine asked. "We go?" Catherine looked around the room. Slowly, everyone nodded.

"Okay, then." Danielle said, handing the spell back to Hermione. "Care to do the honors?"

"One minute!" Miley exclaimed, rushing toward the golden doors and whispering to someone on the other side.

"Mum," Miley said. "you told me to go and get everyone we'd need for this quest. Well, I've got one other person who might be able to help us." She pushed open the door and Phoebe Halliwell stepped into the room.

"Hey, Mi." she said softly, a small smile on her lips.

"Phoebe…" Hermione said, momentarily stunned. "I didn't think…"

"What? That I'd come back? I heard what was going on, and when Miley showed up on my doorstep, well… I just figured I'd take this journey with you." Hermione pulled Phoebe into a tight hug, barely able to believe that she had truly returned.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you." Hermione whispered.

"I do." Phoebe said equally as quiet. "Because that's how much I've missed you."

"Not to shatter this little reunion, because I'm sure you're both rather emotional at the moment, but we need to go." Catherine told them.

"Right." Hermione said, releasing Phoebe. Phoebe, however, gripped Hermione's hand tightly.

"It looks like I'm going to have quite the tale to tell my sisters."

"You know they're both going to think you've gone crazy until someone casts the memory spell, right?"

"Yeah, probably. Listen, I've been thinking. It might be better this time around if my sisters and I don't give up our powers. If we do, you'll have to worry about protecting us. As long as we're the Charmed Ones, we can take care of ourselves."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, actually." Hermione said. "Let you and your sisters keep your Charmed powers instead of passing them on to us. Well, whatever happens we'll try to get everyone back to the manor as fast as we can, before Dumbledore catches onto us." Harry shouted from across the room.

"You girls ready?" he asked. Hermione and Phoebe exchanged glances. Phoebe gave Hermione wink and Hermione nodded.

"Let's go."


	2. Full Circle

**-.-**

**Chapter 2**

**Full Circle**

-.-

**May 3rd****, 2004.**

Hermione sighed and sat back in a sofa by the fire in the massive library her old home held. Hermione had greatly missed this place since she had abandoned it when Harry had arrived on her doorstep. She had only taken the things she had needed when the two of them had moved into Hogwarts. She had left this house behind her and simply never went back. Even now, many years later, she still remembered the day Harry had first set foot in this house. Hermione had hated him with every fiber of her being at the time, and yet still she loved him. Maybe that's why his showing up that day had hurt her so much.

Hermione checked the old grandfather clock, only to see that it would still be another twenty minutes before Harry arrived. She had forgotten how lonely the big house could be, and suddenly she didn't miss it as much as she thought she had. She waved her hand to orb herself a glass of water, only to realize she was not yet a Charmed One, nor even a Whitelighter. With a start, she realized she didn't really miss those things either. It was strange… she had truly loved being a Charmed One, and helping others as a Whitelighter. Now, though… she found that she really didn't even _want _to be anything other that what she was at that very moment. She didn't want to be a Charmed One, a Whitelighter, or even an Atlantean goddess. All Hermione wanted to be, for the rest of her natural life, was just Hermione. And once she came to that rather startling realization, she swore, both to herself and whatever deity that happened to be listening, that just Hermione was all she was ever going to be. A knock at the door shook Hermione from her thoughts. She stood to her feet, left the library and made her way down the dark hallway. She reached the door and pulled it open. Harry stood on the threshold, watching her through his emerald eyes. Hermione smiled, recalling the very first time Harry had arrived here.

"Well," she said, humor evident in her voice. "are you going to come in or stand there with your eyes out of your head?"

"Where else should my eyes be when they're looking at you?" Harry asked, stepping into the house and closing the door behind him.

"Anywhere but where you were looking when I opened the door." Hermione told him.

"Hard not to look there, considering they're so…"

"Harry, please." Hermione moaned, guiding him into the library.

"I'm sorry, but hey… I can't help it. You're still as beautiful as you were the day we found each other again."

"This _is _the day we found each other again, Harry."

"Touché." Harry said, waiting until Hermione had sunk onto the sofa before taking a seat himself.

"So, what's the plan?" Harry asked. Hermione pulled her bathrobe tighter about herself and stared into the blazing fire, unspeaking. Harry could see the flames reflected in her cinnamon eyes, and he was shocked to discover that she was crying. Harry reached out to comfort her, fully expecting her to pull away. When she did not, Harry, emboldened, wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She winced, and Harry recalled with a start that, by coming back this far, the spell that caused Hermione intense pain would be upon her again.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I'd forgotten about…"

"I haven't." Hermione said, her tear-filled eyes not leaving the fire. "I lived with this for years. I will never forget the power of this spell, and if you experienced it for even a fraction of the time I have, you wouldn't forget it either."

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have…"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Hermione said sharply.

"Mione, I…"

"I mean it, Harry." Hermione said. "We're here to fix the future, not fix our relationship, because I'm not sure anything can do that."

"Hermione…"

"Harry, no. Don't even start with me right now. It's late, I'm tired, and we've got a lot of work to do."

"I know that, Mione. It's just… I still love you. I always will, no matter what happens. I understand if you never forgive me, but we still need to talk about things." Hermione sighed deeply and rolled her eyes.

"_Fine_," she said at last. "but in the morning. I'm exhausted, and all I can think about is how the others are doing."

"Okay, Mione. That's fine." Hermione nodded and stood. She winced heavily and nearly collapsed back into her seat. Harry was there instantly, wrapping his arms around her and helping her stand.

"Harry, you don't have to…"

"I want to." Harry told her, gently holding her upright incase she started to fall again.

"Well…" Hermione said uncertainly. "Thanks. I should… get to bed. Long day tomorrow." Hermione slowly drew away from him, almost reluctantly.

"Uh… G'night, Harry." Hermione said as she began to climb the stairs.

"Goodnight, Mione." Harry called after her. He desperately wanted to see her safely up the stairs and into bed. He knew she was in pain beyond anything he could imagine, and knew she could use his help, but he also knew that she would never accept it. Harry shook his head and turned his back on the stairs. He wasn't even remotely sleepy, and he doubted Hermione, despite being as tired as she was, would sleep well. Instead of attempting to find his way into a bedroom of his own, for he knew the house had dozens of them, he elected to remain downstairs, perhaps do a bit of reading. They had truly come full circle once again. They had returned to the moment when their lives had changed forever. The dawn would bring trouble, Harry knew, and he needed to use what time he had to prepare for it.


	3. A Pair of Fortnights

-.-

**Chapter 3**

**A Pair of Fortnights **

-.-

The house was dark and quite cold when Harry awoke the following morning. He got out of bed, dressed, checked to ensure that Hermione was still sleeping soundly, and went down to the kitchen.

Harry didn't think of himself as a great cook. In fact, he hadn't prepared a meal since he had been living with the Dursley family, which felt to Harry like an eternity ago. Still, he set about in an attempt to prepare a decent breakfast.

When he was finished, he knew he had not managed to prepare a meal on par with what Piper could have done, for she had been the one who did most of the cooking back at the manor, but he was pleased that his bacon wasn't burnt, and his fried eggs didn't have bits of shell in them and ended up being rather tasty.

Hermione came down the stairs just as he was finishing up. She was wrapped in a white bathrobe, her hair was messy and her eyes still looked drowsy.

"Morning, sleepy." Harry called from the sink, where he had just ran cold water on a steaming, grease filled pan. The burst of hot steam and choking smoke that resulted caused him to drop the pan in surprise, and Hermione to giggle lightly at his misfortune.

"I make you breakfast, and you're laughing at me?" Harry asked her, folding his arms over his chest and putting on the fakest expression of anger he could muster.

"So sorry," Hermione responded, laughter still evident in her voice. She slipped into a chair at the table and drew a plate toward her. "And since when do you cook?" Harry shrugged.

"Just thought I'd do something nice." He told her, wiping some spilt egg yolk off of the counter and into the waste bin.

"Well, aren't you being sweet today." Hermione said, dipping her fork into her eggs and taking a bite.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"This is actually really good, Harry." Hermione said, pointing at her plate. "I should've had you bring me breakfast in bed every now and again when we were married."

"Eh… I never got up early enough." Harry said, taking a seat across the table from Hermione and fixing a plate for himself.

"Not to spoil this delightful morning," Harry began, selecting several strips of bacon from a platter. "but we need to discuss what we intend to do now that we're back here again." Hermione nodded.

"We do, I agree. I told Phoebe before we left to stop her sisters from faking their deaths. If the Charmed Ones can keep their powers instead of giving them to us, we'll be better of than we would be if we had to dedicate people to protect Piper, Phoebe, and Paige."

"What about the others? Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Draco, I mean? Harry asked.

"We'll get to them, in time. Remember, we're the only ones with knowledge from the future this time around, and I'd prefer it if we didn't tip our hand… particularly to Dumbledore. If he finds out where we've come from… what we know…"

"Right," Harry said, understanding Hermione's unspoken meaning. "So, what do we do now?" For the first time in a very long while, Hermione smiled at him; a genuine, happy smile.

"Absolutely nothing, Harry." She said. "The slower we move, the better off we are. We know when and where our enemies will be, and what their plans are. We need to take our time, get our bearings, and we can't make mistakes."

"So, we just sit here?" Harry asked.

"For the time being," Hermione said. "We'll let Phoebe do her work. She'll find a way to contact us once she casts the memory spell on Piper and Paige. I told her to wait about a month before contacting us, so I imagine she'll…"

"A month?" Harry asked, perplexed. "We're not going to do anything for a month." Hermione shrugged.

"You asked what the plan was, and I'm telling you what I've got. Do you have a better idea? We're sitting on a string of defeats at the hands of Voldemort… We can't just come in and turn the whole war around in a week. We'd draw far too much attention to ourselves."

"True." Harry admitted. "I just don't like the idea of doing nothing while there's a war on."

"Personally, I'm rather looking forward to it." Hermione said, buttering herself a biscuit.

"Are you?" Harry asked.

"Do you have any idea when the last time was that I had absolutely nothing that I had to do? No government meetings, no magical emergencies… For the first time in years, I'm free to do as I choose."

"And what exactly are you planning to do?" Harry asked. Hermione opened her mouth, looking as though she were about to start rattling off a list of things she intended to do. Instead, she said;

"I have no idea." Harry chuckled.

"I'll tell you what. Since you don't have the slightest idea what it means to relax, how about you let me help you."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Hermione inquired.

"Oh, didn't you know? I'm the master of relaxation, Mione. I can teach you the subtle mysteries of relaxation that only we masters know about." Hermione couldn't help but laugh at Harry's foolishness.

"Okay." She said before she had fully thought about what she was truly agreeing to.

"Alright, then." Harry said excitedly. "As soon as we're done with breakfast I want you to head upstairs and pack… and be sure to bring a bathing suit."

-.-

As it turned out, Harry had been quite truthful in his statement during breakfast. Harry had taken Hermione to a deserted island in the South Pacific. A beautiful, sandy beach stretched out before them, steaming under the blazing sun. The sky was bright and clear as Hermione, dressed in the skimpy bikini Harry had convinced her to wear, watched Harry attempting to surf in the crystal clear water from under the massive umbrella Harry had conjured for them.

As well as Harry could fly a broom, he was equally as bad at surfing. Every time he would attempt to mount the long board, it would slip out from under him or simply flip upside down, tossing him off again. When he finally did manage to clamber aboard, a wave crashed into him before he could do more than throw his arms into the air as a sign of victory and he was washed off again. After an hour, Harry gave up and returned, dripping wet to the beach where Hermione lay on her towel, smiling up at him.

"That went well." She said, barely able to keep her laughter in check.

"Why don't you try it, then?" Harry asked, dropping onto the sand beside her. Smiling, Hermione lowered her sunglasses below her eyes and stared at him over the rims.

"Because I'm not crazy." She said with a grin. "Man was not meant to ride on water."

"What about woman?" Harry queried.

"Woman was not stupid enough to think she could in the first place." Hermione told him. Harry smiled and picked up his Firebolt which he had brought with them.

"How about on air, then? Harry asked.

"Harry, you know I don't like flying." Hermione warned him and he approached her with his hand outstretched.

"Don't worry, Mione." Harry told her. "I'll protect you." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her, her toes digging into the sand in a desperate yet fruitless effort to hold herself back, onto the broom behind him.

"Harry, _no_!" she moaned. "Don't you _dare _take off, Harry! You know I don't like flying!" Harry pushed off from the ground, shooting toward the sky, laughing his head off. Hermione, on the other hand, screamed and wrapped her arms so tightly around Harry that she felt certain she would soon snap him in half. Harry dove back toward the ground, skimming the surface of the ocean only a few inches above the glistening water.

He pulled up on the broom's handle and they began to rise higher and higher until their island was nothing more than a tiny speck far below. Harry flew them higher still, up above the clouds, until the sky grew darker and stars slowly appeared.

"Harry, this… this is incredible." Hermione whispered in his ear, pointing down to the Earth far below. Harry looked down as well, taking in the beautiful ocean stretching out in every direction.

"Yes, it is." Harry said. He stopped the broom and held it stationary while he turned completely around and faced Hermione, who no longer looked horrified, but she still trembled slightly.

"We could disappear…" Harry said quietly after several minutes. Hermione looked up at him. "Just… never go back… leave everything else behind." Hermione smiled.

"If you only knew how tempting that is." She said, her eyes falling down to the world beneath them. "But all that down there, all that beauty and wonder… that's what we're fighting to protect."

"What if I don't care anymore?" Harry asked. "What if all I want is…" He took Hermione's hand. "You." Hermione scooted closer to him, momentarily forgetting how high up they were.

"Could you really do it?" Hermione asked him. "Could you really just walk away and leave everything, everyone you've ever cared about behind?"

"Maybe." Harry said quietly.

"Well, I couldn't." Hermione told him. "After everything I've been through, after everything we've _all _been through, I… I'm going to see this through to the end, Harry. I have to." Harry sighed.

"Yeah," he said. "I know you do. This is… more your fight now than it is mine, I suppose."

"We'll never find any peace until this is over anyway." Hermione said. "I don't think there's anywhere on Earth that we could go where Dumbledore wouldn't eventually find us." Neither of them spoke again for several minutes until Hermione looked back down from where she had been staring up at the brilliantly blue sky.

"He wants me, Harry… Dumbledore, I mean. He's been planning all this for ages. He's not just going to let me go. If we tried to run, he'd hunt us down. I don't think he would be above killing either of us. He wants to prevent the future the Avatars have foreseen from coming to pass and he fully believes that I'm the key to accomplishing his goals. I know him, Harry. If I run, he'll hunt me. If I refuse what he feels is my destiny, he'll kill me. We don't have a lot of options."

"You really think he'd kill you?" Harry asked.

"I think he's killed me more times than I care to imagine." Seeing Harry's confused expression, she added, "Time travel, Harry. It's something Catherine said one, long ago. I think Dumbledore has caused us to relive our lives many times over. He's been doing exactly what we've been doing.

"We're trying to destroy all of the bad guys and keep everyone we care about alive and well. If something goes wrong, we just go back in time and try again. My guess is that Dumbledore's been doing the same thing, only a lot longer than we have.

"I think he's reset time so many times now that even he probably doesn't know how everything was supposed to work out.

"So you think nothing about today is the same as it would have been if Dumbledore hadn't meddled with the timeline?

"I certainly do." Hermione said. "Maybe originally Voldemort really was the only dark wizard we needed to worry about. It's possible we never even met the Charmed Ones and you ended up with Ginny, got married, had kids and lived happily ever after."

"And what happened to you in this original timeline?"

"Oh, I imagine I probably married Ron and went to work at the Ministry of Magic or something, I don't know. The point is, Harry… Dumbledore's been working on this a lot longer than we have. We can't run from him, he's too devoted to his plan to just let it all go because we left. We've got to stop him this time, Harry. We have to."

"We will." Harry told her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I can't promise you much, Mione…. But I can promise that we'll find a way to stop him."

"Is it okay to admit that I'm scared?" Hermione asked as Harry released her and slowly began to descend back towards the beach.

"Of course." Harry said with a laugh. "Hell, I'm scared too."


	4. Ceremonies of Light and Dark

**Chapter 4**

**Ceremonies of Light and Dark**

**-.-**

The pain in her leg was unbearable. She felt as though something had eaten away at it, leaving only tattered remains behind. She pushed the pain from her mind, however, as she pressed herself against the wall beside the open kitchen door. Two Death Eaters stood inside, rummaging through the cabinets. She gripped her wand tightly in her slender hand, hesitated, then swung around the corner.

Her first spell caught one of the Death Eaters squarely in the face. A splash of blood and bits of bone flecked the wall behind him. The remaining Death Eater sent of bolt of green light dancing across the room, cleaning missing its intended target. The Death Eater tried to back away, but a flash of light shattered his right leg, taking it off at the knee.

Hermione stepped over him as he whimpered in pain. He was quickly going into shock. She should take him in to the Order for medical care and then sentencing. However, as she watched him lying on the bloodstained floor, she felt an almost overjoyed sensation flood through her. Without a word, a burst of green light flashed from her wand tip and killed the Death Eater where he lay.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, rushing into the kitchen.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, seeing another Death Eater in the dark corridor behind him. The Death Eater struck before Harry could even turn. Harry fell dead at Hermione's feet, and Hermione herself woke with a start, drenched in sweat.

Hermione sat in bed, panting and trembling. The dream had seemed so real. Slowly, she reached across the bedside table and found her wand. She lit it and cast the narrow beam around the room. She was terrified; she had been ever since she and Harry had returned from their beach trip two days earlier. She couldn't explain it, but she felt as though dark eyes were following her everywhere she went. She had told Harry none of this, though she was certain he had some idea that she wasn't as fine as she claimed to be.

Slowly, she slipped out of bed and walked to the small balcony attached to her room. The cool morning air felt even colder against her sweat-soaked skin, but she found she didn't care as she sat down in one of the wrought iron chairs near the railing. Her mind could focus on little other than the overwhelming odds that were stacked against them. They faced foes darker and with so much power that she and her companions could scarcely imagine it, and yet they were expected to win. She, Hermione, and her gang of misfits were supposed to win this war and set the future right.

The fact of the matter was, of course, that they needed a plan. Hermione, however, didn't have the slightest idea of what to do. She was so afraid that no matter what path she chose, it would be the wrong one.

"God, I hate this." Hermione whispered, standing and walking to the railing.

"Baby girl, I told you that you needed to stop talking to yourself." Hermione spun around.

"_Mum?_" She said, stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Emma Granger asked, stepping out onto the balcony with her daughter. "A mother can't drop by to see her little girl every now and again?"

"You never have before." Hermione told her.

"You've never needed me to do so before." Emma countered.

"How are you even here anyway?" Hermione asked. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I can't come and give my baby a pep talk, does it?"

"Most people would think so." Hermione said. Emma smiled.

"I had a pair of really good teachers show me how to come back down here for a short while."

"Let me guess." Hermione said. "Grams and Penny?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Intuition." Hermione said. "Just about everyone else important to the Charmed Ones has dropped by over time, or at the very least had some influence on events. I would imagine Prue will show up before its all said and done. Anyway, you said you came to give me a pep talk? I hope you've got several weeks."

"You aren't _that _unsure of yourself, are you?"

"I don't even know where to begin with this one, Mum." Hermione confessed. "With what we're up against…"

"You're up against enemies you know very well, sweetheart. Voldemort, the Source, Grindelwald, Dumbledore… these are all foes you've defeated in the past. Now, though, you're the one with the advantage."

"How do you figure that?" Hermione asked.

"You already know what's going to happen, right?" Emma said. "So, all you have to do is plan around that. You know where your enemies will be, what they'll be doing, and when they'll be doing it."

"And you think that's enough?"

"It might just give you the edge that you need." Emma said. "No one here knows where you come from, not even Dumbledore. You'll still have to be careful, but knowing the future should help you find the outcome you're looking for." Hermione turned away from her mother and looked up at the full moon shining above her.

"Maybe you're right, but I don't…"

"Who are you talking to?" Harry asked from the doorway. Hermione turned around. Her mother was nowhere to be seen. Harry took a couple of steps forward, his expression curious.

"Oh, I was just… thinking out loud." Hermione lied quickly. She was no longer entirely certain that her mother had ever been there at all. It wouldn't be at all surprising if her sleep-deprived brain had simply conjured up the appearance of her mother and she really didn't want Harry thinking she was seeing things.

"You couldn't sleep either, I take it?" Harry asked.

"I slept." Hermione said. "The nightmares, though…"

"Nightmares?" Harry asked. "I thought I was the one with the bad dreams."

"We should get back to bed." Hermione said softly. "We've got a lot of work to do."

"Mione, if… if you want me to stay with you tonight, you know I'd…"

"I… I can't, Harry." Hermione whispered. "I know what you want, and I'm sorry but I can't give that to you right now."

"Hermione, I wasn't talking about…"

"I know what you were talking about, Harry. It's just that every time I look at you, all I can see is what happened with Miley, and I know that wasn't you, okay? I'm not mad at you in the least."

"Then what's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I'm not… I'm not sure, exactly." Hermione admitted. "But whatever the problem is, it's me. I can't seem to let what happened to Miley go. Maybe it's what happened with my father, I don't know. I'll figure it out, though, Harry. I promise. Just… give me some time, okay?" Harry smiled.

"Don't worry, Mione." He told her. "It's okay, I understand. Goodnight then, Mione. You know, I'm just across the hallway if you need me."

"I know. Thanks, Harry." Harry smiled at her and left the room, closing the door behind him. Hermione sighed deeply and closed the door to the balcony and slipped back into bed. Before she could pull the blankets over herself, however, they floated up into the air and tucked themselves around her. Hermione smiled in spite of her mood.

"Thanks Mum."


	5. Revelations

-.-

**Chapter 5**

**Revelations**

-.-

Phoebe Halliwell sat at a table in a small outdoor café in downtown San Francisco. She had agreed to meet Hermione here one month after their arrival and today was the day. She hadn't been in contact with anyone else since she had arrived, so Phoebe could do little more than pray that Hermione and all of her other friends had arrived safely. Phoebe was so preoccupied with looking over the heads of her fellow patrons, that she didn't notice the man that slowly approached her.

"Hi," he said in a rather suave voice.

"Hi," Phoebe replied distractedly. She had spotted a young woman with long, dark hair and briefly thought it was Hermione; however upon closer inspection she realized she was wrong.

"You know, you remind me of someone I've met before." the man said, attempting once again to engage her in conversation.

"Some people say I look _exactly _like Alyssa Milano." Phoebe said. She shrugged. "I don't see it."

"No, you… you're Phoebe Halliwell." he said quickly. "You write for the Bay Mirror."

"I _wrote _for the Bay Mirror," Phoebe corrected him. "I quit… I've got more important things to…" Suddenly, Phoebe saw Hermione crossing a busy street a block away. Phoebe leapt to her feet, leaving her potential suitor looking thunderstruck, and ran flat out down the street. Hermione only spotted her when she was less than a second away, and barely had time to brace herself before she was engulfed in the tightest hug she had ever experienced.

"At least I know you're excited to see me." Hermione said when Phoebe finally released her.

"Of course I am!" Phoebe exclaimed as they set off down the street.

"You've cast the spell on your sisters, I presume?" Hermione asked, not bothering to keep her voice down as they moved through the noisy, bustling crowd.

"The day I got back, actually." said Phoebe. "They're aware of what's been happening. Leo and the boys are safe at Magic School and I managed to convince Billie stay at college and let us handle everything."

"Good," said Hermione. "Billie's a good witch, but the less people we involve the better off we'll be."

"She's pissed though," said Phoebe. "She wants to help."

"We'll let her," said Hermione. "Next time."

"Next time?" Phoebe asked, arching her eyebrows.

"There's _always _a next time, Pheebs." said Hermione. Phoebe didn't much like the idea of that, and changed the subject.

"So, who have you rounded up so far?"

"We found Kat, Liz, and Hope last week," said Hermione. "and Miley and Danielle just two days ago. We decided to wait on everyone else until you could be there to cast the memory spell… save us some trouble."

"We've certainly got enough of that to last us quite a while." said Phoebe as Hermione led her into a dark and secluded alleyway.

"You'd better hold on," Hermione advised her, extending her arm to Phoebe. "To be honest, I can't say I know what would happen were you to let go." Phoebe gripped Hermione's arm firmly. They disappeared with a loud, reverberated crack…

… and reappeared in the sunlit kitchen of the Halliwell manor. Phoebe released Hermione's arm and sank shakily into a chair.

"I _hate _Side-Along Apparition." She muttered. Hermione gave her a comforting smile and was about to reply when a loud shriek startled her just before she was engulfed in yet another bone-crushing hug.

"It's good to see you too, Piper, Paige," Hermione managed to say. "But I can't breathe…"

"Sorry…" Paige said, releasing Hermione and pulling Piper back with her. "We're just… we never thought we'd see you again."

"I could say the same about both of you." Hermione replied.

"Yeah," Piper said darkly. "that must have been a rough time… for both of you." she added, glancing between Hermione and Phoebe.

"The hardest three years of my life," said Phoebe. "But also some of the happiest." She smiled at Hermione. "Funny how that works."

"Yeah…" Hermione said softly. She seemed rather anxious change the subject and quickly turned to Piper and Paige. "We need to get back. I don't want us out in the open for long… any unnecessary attention drawn to us could be the end of everything. Are you ready?"

"Just let me grab the Book of Shadows, and we'll be good to go." said Piper, and she hurried from the room.

"So," Paige said slowly, glancing at Hermione. "you and Phoebe, huh?" Hermione's eyes narrowed and she rounded on Phoebe.

"What have you been telling them?" she asked."

"Well, they _guessed _most of it… and Piper already knew part of it to being with. I just sort of… filled in the blanks."

"Who's the better kisser?" asked Paige, who seemed desperate for details. "Phoebe or Harry?"

"Well, they've got very different styles." said Hermione, relenting to the fact that Paige wasn't going to let it go. "Harry's rather rough and demanding, while Phoebe's soft and sweet. _Both _methods have there merits, I must say."

"And who's better in bed?" Paige pressed. Phoebe giggled at the look on Hermione's face.

"I refuse to discuss it." Hermione said firmly.

"Actually, Mi, I kind of like to know that one myself." said Phoebe, who was still chortling.

"I'll tell _you _if _you_ tell _me_," said Hermione. "Who's better? Me or Harry?"

"You," Phoebe replied instantly.

"Don't mention that to Harry," said Paige, laughing loudly. "You'll hurt his man-feelings."

-.-

While Hermione had been out collecting the hug-happy Halliwell sisters, Harry had been on the hunt for Ron and Luna, who he returned with mere hours after Hermione. Once Phoebe had cast the memory spell, everyone gathered living room where Harry and Hermione were catching them all up on everything that had gone on over the intervening three years. They had gotten roughly halfway through the tale when Catherine entered the room.

"Sorry to interrupt the history lesson," she said irritably. "but could we get to work?"

"I know you're anxious, Kat, but they need to understand what's happened." said Harry lightly. Catherine rolled her eyes and left the room. Harry made to go after her, but Hermione put her hand on his arm.

"I'll talk to her," she said. She left the room and followed Catherine's most likely course, which led her to the front door. She pulled it open and immediately spotted Catherine, sitting on the front steps. Hermione slipped outside, ignoring the icy cold temperatures, and sat down beside her daughter, who was staring quite determinedly up at the clear, star strewn sky.

"Spill," Hermione said, gently nudging Catherine with her elbow. "You're obviously upset, Kat, and it isn't because we're filling in our friends… what's wrong?"

Catherine was silent for a very long time. When she at last began to speak, it was in a strained, cracked voice that seemed to say that every word she spoke was causing her pain.

"You… you don't even remember, do you?" Catherine asked. "The promise you made to me?"

"I… of course I remember, Kat, but… that hardly matters now, does it? I mean, we've had to come back here, so…"

"We've only come back here because of me." Catherine said harshly. "Everything that was happening before we came back… I caused it."

"You caused… but how could you have…?"

"Aurora's powers, of course." Catherine said. "It was the only way, of course. I knew I'd never convince you to come back unless you thought you had no other choice."

"And how the hell did you end up with Aurora's powers?" Hermione demanded. It was one of the few times in Catherine's life when she was afraid of her mother. Hermione's usually calm, loving eyes were blazing with anger and Catherine knew that if she were anyone but Hermione's daughter, she wouldn't likely still be sitting there in one piece.

"Isn't it obvious?" Catherine asked, arching her eyebrows. "I killed you, of course. It wasn't easy, either. Of course, the powers were then the birthright of Miley, as she's the oldest sister."

"Let me guess," Hermione growled. "You killed her too?"

"As well as Danielle," said Catherine. "I had little choice. I went to Miley, demanded she give up her birthright. She refused even though she had no intention of taking on the powers herself. She knew what I had planned and she wasn't going to let me do it. She knew you never wanted to use time travel again, you see. She was always very loyal to you, after all."

"Good girl," Hermione muttered. Catherine rolled her eyes.

"Of course, Danielle stood with her… so I was forced to kill them both."

"I assume Elizabeth's helping you, then?" Hermione asked. "You obviously didn't kill her."

"No, I didn't have to. She saw what happened to Miley and Danielle. She was smart enough to realize she would come to the same fate if she didn't work with me. I convinced her to come back with me. She hates me, obviously, but I can't worry about her. I'm actually surprised she didn't tell you what was going on."

"And Hope?" Hermione said. "Does she…?"

"She doesn't know." Catherine said briskly. "She didn't need to know, so we lied to her. We fabricated a story that she would believe. So far, it's worked."

"And Aurora's powers?" Hermione asked. "I assume you gave them up after you turned the world upside down? You wouldn't be able to use them here, after all. The Elders would kill you."

"Right in one," Catherine replied.

"So," said Hermione. Her voice was icy cold. "What, exactly, are you planning to do?"

"Why, I've already done it," said Catherine. "We're here, aren't we? I convinced you to come back here, didn't I? That was the whole point, after all. To go back…"

"You wanted the world changed to the way you wanted it so much that you went this far? You… I can't even… Just to bring our friends back? You risked _everything_! We could lose everything we've accomplished! The war was _over_!"

"It hadn't even _begun _yet!" Catherine shouted, leaping to her feet.

"And what the _hell_ does that mean?" Hermione demanded.

"Forget it!" Catherine shouted. "It doesn't matter anymore! All that matters is that we're here! We're here and you're going to make good on your promise!" Without another word, she turned on her heel, and stormed into the house. Hermione followed her and caught her before she could reach the staircase.

"You're not just going to walk away, Kat!" Hermione said, raising her voice for the first time. "Not this time." Catherine was very aware that the others were all watching them both curiously.

"Mione," said Harry, standing up from the sofa. "What's going on?"

"Can we not do this here?" Catherine asked quietly.

"Oh, no," said Hermione sharply. "You wanted to run away and now we're here…. and we're dealing with this now!"

"Fuck," Catherine whispered. "There's nothing to deal with!"

"Yes, Catherine, there is!" Hermione shot back. "You're mad… hell, you're furious with me! We both know it, and we both know it's not because I broke a promise! So, what did I do that was so horrible! If you're going to burn me at the stake, I'd like to know the charges!"

"Fine!" Catherine screamed. "You want to fucking know, then I'll tell you! It's… it's… you're… you're just _you_! Everything that's happened, everything we've lost is because of _you_! Dumbledore, Grindelwald, all of it! It's your fault! You and your _damn_ destiny that's no good to anyone! All you've done is hurt people! You let people stand between you and death and let them get taken instead of you!"

"Catherine, what the hell…" Phoebe began, but Hermione held up a hand and she fell silent at once.

"Anything else," Hermione said, her voice was completely emotionless.

"Yeah," said Catherine. "I hate what your destiny's done to our lives… and sometimes… I really hate _you._" Catherine turned and disappeared up the staircase. Hermione stood in silence, staring at the spot where Catherine had been standing moments before. Harry and Phoebe glanced at each other. Harry nodded. Phoebe stepped forward and put her arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Mi…?" Phoebe whispered. "Mi?" Hermione seemed to come quite suddenly out of a very deep reverie and looked at Phoebe as though only just noticing she was there. Phoebe gently guided Hermione over to the sofa and sat down beside her. Harry sank into the seat on Hermione opposite side while the others gathered around them. Hermione didn't think she could tell them everything Catherine had said, but she knew she had to… so she did. When she was done, the others all looked outraged.

"She's out of her mind." Piper said plainly.

"The thing is, she's right," Hermione said lightly. "She is. I've been leading this fight for years and all I've done is make things worse. You all look at me like I'm supposed to have some sort of plan… to know what I'm doing… and I don't."

"Mi, you're the only one who _can _lead us." Phoebe told her. "Without you, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"You would," Hermione replied, nodding quite vigorously. "My way isn't working anymore. I've led us from bad to worse..." She broke off and looked to Harry. "We need a new way of thinking."

"Mione, if you're suggesting that I step up, you know I will." He shrugged. "But I have to say… I fully believe we'll be all the worse for it."

"We _need _you, Mi," Phoebe said, looking directly into Hermione's eyes. Hermione gently cupped the older woman's cheek.

"Sweetie, I'm not leaving," Hermione told her. "I just don't think I can stand here and pretend to lead this group anymore. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going to get us all killed if I keep this up."

"Hermione, what Catherine said…" Paige began.

"Was true," Hermione finished her sentence. "You needn't try to convince me otherwise." She shook her head, hugged Harry, kissed Phoebe on the cheek, and followed her daughter's path up the stairs. The rest of them sat in silence until they heard the sound of a door closing on the floor above.

"Harry?" Phoebe whispered. She looked quite frightened. Harry didn't reply, but instead he stood, shook his head, and followed Hermione up the stairs.


	6. …And They Have a Plan

**Chapter 6**

…**And They Have a Plan**

**-.-**

Phoebe stayed awake long after everyone else had gone to bed. She sat in almost complete darkness, with only the last embers of the dying fire in the fireplace to illuminate the room. It wasn't until around three in the morning when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Catherine pausing at the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, I… I didn't think anyone was still up…" she whispered.

"You don't think about much of anything." Phoebe muttered.

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked.

"You know, I really thought I was a bitch when I was your age, but I couldn't have held a candle to you."

"Phoebe, I don't…"

"You really don't know how good you've got it, do you?" Phoebe asked. "Do you have any idea how much I wish I could've known my mother? She died, you know, before I was old enough to remember her."

"I knew that, Phoebe. What…"

"Your mother's alive. You've gotten to grow up with a mother, but you don't appreciate that. You tore her heart out, Catherine. I don't think you realize just how badly you hurt her."

"I just told her how I felt."

"She loves you, Kat." Phoebe said. "She would do _anything_ for you. Everything she does is to make sure you and your sisters are safe. Maybe you don't have the perfect life, but guess what, nobody does! You think every second of my life has been rosy? Or Harry's? Or Ron's? Or Ginny's? No, no one has everything they want. I know you don't think its fair, but that's no reason to take it out on the one person who has dedicated her life to making the world safe for you."

"I'm just so angry…"

"Then _be _angry!" Phoebe said, her voice rising. "Be angry all you want, I really don't care. The fact is that we've got a war to win and our last, best hope just walked out on us because of you!"

"I don't… You mean Mum? She didn't…"

"She stepped down, Kat. We need her to lead us, but because of the things you said she doesn't feel she's the right person to make the important decisions. The truth is, though, she's the only chance we've got to get this right. No one else can think like Hermione can. She's the only person who could possibly come up with a way to win the war when the odds are so heavily stacked against us."

"I didn't want her to back out, I was just mad. I wanted her to know how I felt…"

"Is that really how you feel, Kat, or were you just trying to hurt her?" Phoebe asked.

"I…" Catherine's voice fell away.

"I thought so." Phoebe said. "Well, you hurt her, that's for sure. You made her lose faith in herself, Kat." Phoebe stood and walked to the stairs. She stopped on the first step and turned around. "I just pray she gets it back before it's too late."

As Phoebe walked up the stairs, Catherine looked into the fireplace as the last of the fire died out, plunging her into complete darkness. It was only then that she began to cry.

-.-

Upstairs, Hermione sat staring out of her bedroom window, deep in thought. So deep, in fact, that she never heard the door open, or the sound of feet crossing the room. She didn't realize she was no longer alone until Harry's hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Hey, Harry." She said quietly, glancing up at him. From the tone of her voice, Harry could tell that she had been crying.

"How are you doing?" Harry asked, backing away from her chair and sitting down on the side of her bed. Hermione turned away from the window.

"I wish I knew." She said. "I thought I knew what I was doing, but I really believe I just wanted everyone to think I was in control. Now that I know I'm not, I… I don't know what to do, or think, or feel, or… anything."

"Mione, I know Catherine hurt you, but come on… You are the best shot we have at winning this thing."

"I've been at the helm too long, Harry. My way hasn't worked yet. Why does everyone seem to think it'll work now?"

"Because you don't stop until the war is won. You can come up with plans that I would never think of, never _dream _of."

"You are just as smart as I am, Harry. You just don't want to admit it."

"I'm not, though." Harry said. "You're the most brilliant woman I've ever met. Hell, you're the most brilliant _person_ I've ever met. If you want me to lead, Mione, I will. Just know that we'll all be the worse for it."

"Harry, I don't want to…

"No, no." Harry said. "It's okay. I can handle it. My first act as the new leader, however, is to order you to develop a plan of action." Hermione's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't." Hermione said, glaring sharply at Harry.

"Oh, I would." Harry responded. "If I am to be the leader, it is my responsibility to ensure that the best people we have are doing what they do best. So, in the morning I expect to see you working."

"God, you're impossible." Hermione muttered.

"It's part of my charm, Granger." Harry said, smirking.

"I think you're confusing charm with something else." Hermione told him.

"Well," Harry said, taking her hands and pulling her toward him. "Why don't you come over here and I'll show you just how charming I can be." Harry had just pulled Hermione into his lap when a soft knock sounded at the door.

"Damn." Harry muttered so softly Hermione barely heard him. "So close… _What_?" He shouted toward the door.

"Uh, it's me… Elizabeth. Is Mum in there?"

"Say no." Harry told Hermione, who rolled her eyes.

"Yes, sweetie."

"Um… can we talk?"

"Say no." Harry repeated.

"Of course," Hermione said, ignoring Harry. "come in."

Elizabeth opened the door, but paused when she saw her mother and father sitting on the bed.

"Did I, err… interrupt something?"

"Yes." Harry said.

"No." Hermione said at the same time.

"Right." Elizabeth said. "Listen, I know you're probably mad at me, Mum, but I…"

"Why would I be mad at you?" Hermione asked. "Unless _you're_ the one that ate the last of the coconut pie I was saving in the refrigerator. In _that_ case, I…"

"No, I… I didn't do that. But I saw…" Elizabeth glanced at Harry, who gave her a warning glare and she broke off. "Um, never mind. I meant the fact that I help Catherine trick you. I could've said something to you once we came back, but I didn't. I didn't do anything. Miley and Danielle stood up to her, but I…"

"You were scared." Hermione said. "I would've been. Catherine had just killed me and two of your sisters. You had every right to decide against fighting her. I don't blame you, Liz."

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Oh, good." She said. "I knew you were pissed at Kat, and I was afraid you'd be just as mad at me."

"It wasn't your fault." Harry said. "You didn't want to die. Hell, if Catherine could take Hermione down with all of her fancy powers, what chance would anyone else have?"

"I would like to think she probably blindsided me." Hermione said indignantly. "I don't think she announced her intentions openly to me. I would assume she stabbed me in the back, so to speak."

"I think you're just covering your ass." Harry muttered.

"And with that, I'm going to bed." Elizabeth said. "Goodnight… and Mum? Thanks." She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

-.-

Elizabeth was halfway down the hall to her bedroom when she decided she wanted a drink of water before bed and reversed her course toward the stairs. As she approached the sitting room, she heard the sound of someone crying.

"Kat?" Elizabeth called, spotting her younger sister sitting on the floor by the empty fireplace. The room was very dark as Elizabeth made her way across the room and sank into the armchair by the fireplace. She didn't say anything, simply watched Catherine silently sob in the few small rays of moonlight shining in through the window.

"She'll never forgive me." Catherine said after several minutes.

"Who? Mum?" Elizabeth asked. "She might. If she didn't, could you really blame her? After what you did?"

"I don't know… maybe." Catherine said. Elizabeth laughed.

"I really don't know what you expected from her, Kat. I don't know what you expected from any of them."

"I hoped Mum would… would understand."

"Understand?" Elizabeth asked, perplexed. "Kitty, you lied to her, you screamed at her, you _killed _her in our time. You actually thought she would be okay with that?"

"I hoped she would see that I didn't have any other options." Kat retorted.

"You _did _have other options, Kat." Elizabeth said. "You could have lived with what you had like everyone else."

"I did this as much for you as I did for me, Lizzy."

"Sure you did." Elizabeth muttered. "I'm not fucking stupid, Kat. You didn't do this for anyone but yourself. You wanted your life a certain way and you were determined to have it like you wanted."

"We've done it before…"

"Not like this." Elizabeth countered. "Before, the world couldn't have been worse. Nothing we did in the past could've made it worse than it already was. In this case, life in our time wasn't so bad. _You _just weren't happy."

"If you don't think we can do this, why did you come back with me?" Catherine asked.

"Because I didn't want to die." Elizabeth said. "Besides, I thought once Mum found out the truth, and I knew she would, I thought I might be able to help." Elizabeth stood and left without another word.

Catherine took out her wand and lit a fresh fire in the fireplace. She stared into the orange flames, hoping the flickering fire would offer her answers.

"I used to sit just like this." Hermione said, sitting down beside Catherine. Catherine looked away from the fire and turned her gaze to the window, turning her back to her mother.

"I used to sit down here every single night and just stare into the fire." Hermione went on, her dark eyes reflecting the shimmering flames. "I was alone here for a long time. I only ever had a single visitor come by perhaps once every few months. I got lonely after a while… I got bored, too. It wasn't really a life, you know? Hiding from the Voldemort and the Ministry and working endlessly on a potion that I never thought we'd finish."

"You did finish it, though." Catherine said quietly.

"Yeah, we finished it." Hermione agreed. "I suppose it was worth it, in the end. I didn't think so when I was in this house, alone, for over three years though. Every night I'd come down here and light a fire. I'd sit right here and stare into it, hoping that maybe it would… tell me that I hadn't completely lost my mind. I prayed that something, someone would just come by and stave off the suffocating loneliness… if only for a little while."

"And did someone?" Catherine asked.

"No." Hermione answered. "No one ever did… not until Harry came, anyway." Hermione broke her gaze away from the fire and turned to look at Catherine. The girl was sitting with her arms around her legs and her chin resting on her knees. Although Hermione couldn't see her face, she could tell by the tone of her voice that she was crying.

"Kat, look at me." Slowly, Catherine turned around. She found she couldn't meet her mother's eyes, however, and instead stared at her left hand. "I'm sorry, Kat." Despite her fear of meeting her mother's gaze, Catherine looked up.

"What?" Catherine asked, confused.

"I was wrong, Catherine. I was so very wrong, and I… I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Mum. I'm the one that should be apologizing."

"No, you shouldn't." Hermione told her. "I never should have made that promise to you, Kat. If I hadn't, if I had just been honest with myself I would've known that my task was impossible, but I thought… I was powerful, Kat. I was very powerful… and with that kind of power, you… you start to think you can do anything… that you're invincible, unstoppable. I was wrong. I was foolish and misguided. I didn't see the truth staring me in the face. I failed to realize that despite all my wondrous abilities, I was not infallible."

"It isn't your place to be infallible, Mum. No one around here expects that of you. I was just so desperate to fix everything that I… I think I just… after Emma, I…"

"Wait." Hermione interrupted. "What… what happened to Emma?" Catherine looked back into the fire, trying to hide the tears now streaming down her face.

"The war wasn't as over as we all thought, Mum." She said. "We may have put down Voldemort and Grindelwald, but in time others came… and with an army of demons and Death Eaters left without a leader… A dark wizard called Neroon rose to power in 2037. With an army at his command, he waged a war that nearly destroyed everything we knew. Atlantis stood as the last bastion of light by the end of it. After five years of conflict, we brought the dark side down, but it cost us. The price was far too high. We lost Harry, Phoebe, Draco… so many others, I... I lost my little girl."

"Kat…" Hermione whispered.

"That's when I knew I had to come back." Catherine went on. "I knew I had to change things, stop all of this from happening. I came to you, Mum. I begged you to go back, to change the past and save the future, but… you said no. You said you'd find a way to fix it, but that time-travel wasn't the way."

"And you thought you knew better?"

"No, I…" Catherine sighed. "I don't know, maybe. I had to do something!"

"And _this_ is what you came up with?" Hermione asked, arching her eyebrows. Catherine laughed.

"I suppose in hindsight it may not have been the best idea."

"One of your worst, I'm afraid." Hermione told her.

"So, not _the _worst then?" Catherine asked.

"Well, the only idea you've had that _might _beat this one would be the time that you single-handedly stormed one of Voldemort's prisons in an attempt to rescue me."

"Excuse me!" Catherine said. "I _did_ rescue you, thank you."

"Getting captured and thrown into jail hardly counts as a rescue."

"It's the thought that counts." Catherine said smiling.

-.-

Breakfast the following morning was an uncomfortable affair. Phoebe clearly hadn't forgiven Catherine as quickly as Hermione had, and was refusing to acknowledge her. Hope was quiet upset at the fact that her sisters had both lied to and tricked her. Miley and Danielle, while not being as cold to Catherine as Phoebe, were still rather short with her. Clearly, the twins weren't so pleased that Catherine had killed them. Everyone else ate in relative silence, at least until Harry spoke up.

"Alright!" he exclaimed. "I know everyone's pretty pissed off right now, but we don't have time for this. We've got to work together if we're going to do this."

"Harry's right." Hermione said. "What Catherine did… was wrong, I don't think anyone here could say that it wasn't. Nevertheless, we _are _at war. If we turn on each other now, we won't stand a chance."

"Fine." Phoebe said with a roll of her eyes. "What do you want us to do?"

"Get along." Hermione said. "Once this is all over, you have my permission to kill each other if you so wish."

"Just make sure you don't do it here." Harry muttered. "If any of you murder someone here, I'd be forced to call the police and fill out a mess of paperwork." Hermione gave Harry a very odd look at this pronouncement.

"Okay…" she said. "The point is, Harry and I have come up with the beginnings of a plan… but we're going to have to work together."

"What's the plan, then?" Catherine asked.

"A series of precision strikes, timed based upon our knowledge of future events." Harry explained. "For instance, we know Voldemort attacks Hogwarts in a matter of weeks. We know exactly when, where, how, and with how many Death Eaters he'll bring."

"All we have to do is be ready for him." Hermione said. "And make sure he doesn't find out that we're on to him."

"Piper, Phoebe, Paige. You three will use the Source vanquishing spell on Voldemort. That's the easiest way to take him down." Harry said.

"Okay, assuming that goes as well as you plan, what about the Source and Grindelwald?" Piper asked.

"We actually have a better advantage over them than we do Voldemort." Harry said.

"They don't know that we know about them." Hermione explained.

"We can attack them at our leisure." Harry said. "Grindelwald's tower system won't be anywhere near completion yet… and according to information gathered after the war, Grindelwald didn't resurrect the Source until well after the assault on Hogwarts. If the information we got from the captured Death Eaters is accurate, it didn't happen until several months after Hermione's capture. If we can kill Grindelwald quickly... the Source will be a non-issue."

"And Dumbledore?" Paige asked.

"Dumbledore… can be dealt with later." Hermione said.

"Mi…?" Phoebe asked uncertainly.

"Well, think about it Phoebe. Dumbledore believes were from this time. If we're careful and we don't tip him off, he won't suspect we know what he's really up to."

"In fact…" Harry said slowly. "Dumbledore should be the easiest part of our task. He trusts us. As much as I'm against assassination…"

"What, just show up in his office and kill him?" Hermione asked. "He's very talented in the art of Occlumency. If we come to him with plans to murder him, he might pick up on that."

"The most important thing to focus on right now is Voldemort." Harry said. "He's our first target."

"I've already got Draco working on securing Grindelwald's location." Hermione told them. "Once Voldemort's out of the way, he should have something for us."

"How are we going to convince Dumbledore that we just magically found out that Voldemort is going to attack Hogwarts?" Danielle asked.

"Draco." Hermione said. "Before long I'm going to inform Dumbledore that Draco came to us and is claiming he's defected to our side. He passed along the information about the attack as a show of good faith. Whether Dumbledore believes Draco changed isn't important. He'll have to order to school be ready for an attack regardless."

"Okay, it's a solid plan." Hope admitted. "Seems a little easy though."

"Oh, it won't be easy." Harry said. "It won't be easy in the least. In fact, what we're about to face may be the toughest challenge we've come up against."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to come up with another idea." Catherine said. "If we commit to this without a backup plan to protect ourselves…"

"If I used protection plans, you wouldn't be here Kat." Harry told her. "We can't worry about protecting anything right now. We've got to strike hard and fast or we'll never pull it off."

"Harry's right." Piper said. "We need to focus on one thing at a time. It's risky, but it's the best chance we've got."

-.-

"Are you sure she's here?"

"Yes. She and I once discussed what she was up to around this time. She told him she was staying in the Leaky Cauldron."

"You _do _realize the last time we were here together an entire room exploded?"

"Yes, yes, but that was years ago. Besides, I was on an assassination mission. Now we're here to find someone."

"She won't try to stab you, will she?"

"This is where she was when she was planning to stab me. So, yes, I would imagine she'll at least give it a good attempt."

"So, what's the plan then?"

"When we see her come in and go up to her room, we're going to follow her and you're going to cast the memory spell on her once we're out of sight of others."

"Before she stabs you?"

"Preferably, yes."

"Mi, this is a bad idea."

"I didn't hear you suggesting any better ones Pheebs."

"Well, no… but still, this is dangerous."

"Like anything we do isn't dangerous."

"Mi, you're coming to a place where you know someone is planning to kill you." Phoebe shrugged. "Don't you think that's a little reckless?"

"Maybe." Hermione agreed. "But I'm a hands-on sort of person, Phoebe. If this is going to be done, I intend to do it myself."

"Fine then." Phoebe said. "But if she stabs you, don't get mad at me."

"I've been stabbed before." Hermione said airily. "What's one more time?"

Phoebe was about to respond when the door to the tiny pub opened and a tall red-haired young woman entered. She strode quickly across the room and started up the stairs. Hermione and Phoebe slipped out of their seats and followed her. They moved quietly, staying just far enough behind their target to not attract attention. When the red-haired woman reached her room and took out her key to open the door, Hermione stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey, Ginny." Ginny Weasley spun around.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ginny demanded, reaching for her wand. When Hermione didn't respond, she raised her wand and pointed it squarely at Hermione's face.

"Gone deaf while you've been away, have you?"

"Not exactly, I'd just rather not answer your questions while you're brandishing a wand at me." This obviously wasn't the answer Ginny wanted, because a bolt of yellow light flashed across the corridor. Hermione had just enough time to dive out of the way. The spell arced over her shoulder and struck the wooden wall. Phoebe stepped into view and began shouting a spell that Ginny, focused solely on not missing a second time couldn't hear. At the very moment that Ginny raised her wand, Phoebe stopped speaking and Ginny's wand slipped from her fingers. She looked from Phoebe, to the smoking hole on the wall, and then to Hermione, who still lay on the floor where she had landed after avoiding Ginny's spell.

"Oh, God!" Ginny moaned. "Hermione, I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Not very much." Hermione said as Phoebe helped her to her feet. "How do you feel?"

"A little weird." Ginny said. "Where are we?" It was only then that she noticed how much younger both Hermione and Phoebe appeared. "_When _are we?"

"It's, uh… June." Hermione said.

"The sixth, to be exact." Phoebe added.

"Of two thousand…" Hermione continued.

"And four." Phoebe finished.

"Two thousand…. Let me guess, Catherine's back?"

"That's right, Gin." Hermione said. "She's messing about with time as usual."

"And what are we up to this time?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Killing dark wizards and Hogwarts headmasters."

"Just like old times then, huh?" Ginny said.

"Pretty much." Hermione said. "Look, we need to go. No one else knows what time we're from, so I'd rather not parade the fact that we're all here."

"Right." Ginny said. "Okay, then. Let's go."

-.-

By midnight that night, Hermione was to be found sitting alone in the kitchen, a bubbling cauldron and a potions book resting on the table in front of her. She had assumed that everyone else was already in bed, so when a voice sounded at the doorway, she jumped in surprise.

"Sorry." Ginny said quietly. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Don't worry about it." Hermione said as Ginny slipped into a chair on the opposite side of the table.

"What are you working on?" Ginny asked.

"Remember those potions Catherine made at the end of the war? The highly explosive ones?"

"How could anyone forget those things?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I figured we might need some again and I couldn't sleep, so…"

"You can't sleep, so you come down here and mix potions."

"At least it's productive." Hermione said, slowly stirring the mixture.

"Harry filled me in on everything that's happened since I… well, died."

"It's a thrilling tale, if you haven't lived through it." Hermione said.

"He also told me about Miley." Ginny continued. "Is… is she okay?" Hermione laid her spoon down.

"I think so." She said with a deep sigh. "I tried talking to her after it happened, but I… I didn't really know what to say. What happened with my father is so different compared to what happened to Miley… not to mention I didn't have anyone to talk to about it. I don't honestly know if I helped her or not."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Ginny offered.

"It's been two years, Gin. Danielle says she never mentions it. I think she'd just rather forget it. Besides, what can you say that I couldn't? You've never even been…" At the look on Ginny's face, Hermione fell silent.

"You… you haven't, have you?" She asked quietly. Ginny nodded.

"God, Gin… I'm sorry. I didn't…"

"Didn't what? Know? Of course you didn't. I've never told anyone. It was a long time ago."

"Who, er…." Hermione began.

"Who did it?" Ginny said. She sighed. "You remember Dean Thomas, right?"

"Of course." Hermione said. "You're not saying he…" Ginny nodded again.

"It was in my fifth year. Dean wanted more than I was willing to give him, so… he took it. But like I said, it was a long time ago. I'm very much over it by this point. Dean and I talked a couple of years later and we sorted through it all. That was the last time I ever saw him. His family moved to France a few months later. I don't even know if he's still alive."

"If, uh… if you want to talk to Miley, by all means, do so." Hermione said. "I'm her mother, I have a different viewpoint than most people, so maybe you can do better than I did."

Silence fell for a moment while Hermione stirred the potion and consulted her book.

"Oh, I meant to ask!" Ginny exclaimed. "What's this about you and Phoebe?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Why does _everyone _ask about that?" Hermione said in exasperated tones. Ginny smiled.

"C'mon, Mione. Are you telling me if our positions were reversed that _you _wouldn't ask?" Hermione simply smiled, didn't answer, and went back to stirring her potion.


	7. And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder

**Chapter 7**

**And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder**

**-.-**

"And we have two weeks?"

"According to Malfoy, yes." Hermione paused. "Professor… I don't like the idea of trusting him any more than you do. I know he's betrayed us in the past and for all we know he's lying to us now. But if he's telling the truth…"

"We can't risk ignoring him." Dumbledore said. "Very well. I'll begin immediate preparations."

"Perhaps we should consider asking the Charmed Ones for help." Harry commented. "I mean, they've helped us in the past." Dumbledore nodded.

"A very good idea, Harry." He said. "If you can get them here, we would certainly appreciate the help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a great deal of work to do in a very short amount of time. I must contact the Ministry."

Harry and Hermione left the headmaster's office and walked out onto the grounds. Neither of them spoke until they were well beyond the iron gates.

"Do you think he bought it?" Harry asked.

"I think so." Hermione said. "He doesn't have any reason not to trust us, so I think we'll be okay. Did he try and get into your mind?" Harry shook his head.

"No, he didn't overtly use Occlumency. That doesn't necessarily mean he didn't pick up something from us though."

"Well, we can't worry about that. As long as Dumbledore heeds the warning and allows us to properly defend the school, we'll be fine." Harry nodded.

"We need to get back home. Everyone's waiting."

"Right…"

-.-

That night the Halliwell Manor was unusually quiet. Most of its inhabitants were already asleep, having spent much of the day devising plans to repel Voldemort's attack on Hogwarts and ensure that the dark wizard could be killed in the process. The only person still awake just happened to be Hermione. She sat in the kitchen, absentmindedly adding ingredients to a potion she was making.

The fire beneath the cauldron hissed and popped as she slowly stirred the concoction, causing Hermione to lower the temperature just slightly.

"Mixing potions at three in the morning?" Harry asked from the doorway.

"I couldn't sleep." Hermione muttered, turning out the fire completely. "All I can see when I close my eyes are defense plans, attack strategies, and diagrams of Hogwarts."

"Well, mixing potions isn't going to help you sleep." Harry said.

"Actually, this one will." Hermione replied. "I'm making a sleeping potion."

"I see," Harry said. "Do you want me to help?"

"If you'd like," Hermione said. Together they moved about the kitchen, working to complete the potion. When at long last it was completed and the mess from the effort was cleared away, Harry poured the potion into a glass and handed it to Hermione, who cautiously sniffed the contents of the glass with a certain degree of unhappiness.

"If this tastes as good as it smells I think I'd rather stay awake." She drank the potion quickly and made a face.

"Well, it's not supposed to be appetizing." Harry pointed out. Hermione was about to reply when she suddenly swayed slightly on the spot and put her hand on the counter to steady herself.

"Whoa…" she said, straining to keep her eyes open. "I think we might have made that potion a bit _too _strong." She swayed again and Harry moved to help her. Together, they walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs. Harry ended up carrying Hermione up the stairs and to her bedroom. By the time He placed her slender form beneath the blankets, he was certain she was fast asleep. Harry smoothed her chestnut curls away from her face and turned to leave.

"Harry, don't go." Hermione called after him, her voice sleepy.

"Hermione…" Harry began.

"Please, Harry… stay here tonight." Hermione said softly. "I can't keep doing this with you, Harry. I've tried being mad at you, at myself, but I can't keep trying to find reasons to keep us apart anymore… Please, Harry."

"If you're sure…" Harry said quietly. Hermione nodded and Harry slowly walked to the bedroom door and eased it shut.


	8. Within the Serpent's Grasp

**Chapter 8**

**Within the Serpent's Grasp**

**-.-**

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry woke quiet normally on that chilly Friday morning. Students hurried from class to class, complaining about homework and discussing Quidditch. All was as it should be, save for a single corridor on the fourth floor. This typically bustling passage was utterly deserted and complete silent… at least until an explosion ripped through one of the walls. Death Eaters stormed into the corridor, fully expecting immediate chaos to be caused by terrified students. When they were met with nothing but an empty stretch of hallway, they became rather perplexed.

"My Lord!" One of the Death Eaters said, addressing Voldemort, who had just arrived. "The target corridor is abandoned. I believe they may be expecting us." Voldemort sighed and executed the man on the spot.

"It is impossible for them to have discovered our plans." The Dark Lord bellowed. "Proceed as planned."

At that moment, the doorway at the far end of the corridor opened slightly. A potion vial filled with black liquid flew through the gap, arced across the room, and shattered on the floor at the Death Eaters feet. The blast vaporized much of the corridor, slaughtering most of Voldemort's attack force. Before Voldemort could even think to order a retreat, the doors at both ends of the corridor burst open. Members of the Order of the Phoenix and Ministry Aurors charged through, raining spells down on the surviving dark wizards. Voldemort's forces began fleeing back outside of the castle and across the school grounds.

-.-

Hermione stood at the top of a fairly short tower, watching the battle unfold. Voldemort and his followers were fleeing back towards the forest.

"Running towards the forest, huh?" Piper asked from beside her.

"Just like we thought." Hermione responded. "Are you ready?"

"Just say the word, Mione." Piper said.

"Harry will give the signal." Hermione said. "When he does, move fast. You won't have much time."

"Don't worry about us, Mione." Paige said, hurrying up to them, the Book of Shadows clutched in her arms. "We can handle it."

"Right." Hermione nodded. "I just I'm just so used to having to protect you three in these situations that I sometimes forget you were the Charmed Ones long before we were."

"Telling Hermione to stop worrying is like telling Ron to stop eating." Phoebe said, scribbling down the last words of the spell at a table across the room.

"I just hope Harry times this right." Piper said. "We're only going to get one shot at Voldemort."

"Would you two stop?" Paige exclaimed. "Everything's going to be fine. You both worry too much."

"I'm the oldest." Piper said. "That's my job."

"There's the signal!" Hermione said, pointing at a bright red flare soaring into the sky. "Let's go." Together, they all linking hands and disappeared in a swirl of blue-white light…

…and reappeared deep in the dark forest. Spells shot everywhere around them and they ducked and ran, dodging spells and dueling wizards. After several minutes they had moved away from the main fight and hurried toward the magical flare that still hovered in the sky. Up ahead they spotted flashes of bright light and heard the familiar cracks and hisses of powerful spells. The four women approached the area and found themselves in a small clearing. Harry and Ron stood in the center, hurling curses at Voldemort, who responded in kind.

"You three stay here." Hermione whispered. "Once I ensure Voldemort is appropriately distracted, you can make your move."

"Mi…" Phoebe began to protest. Hermione met the older woman's eyes.

"Phoebe, if he spots you too soon you'll never get the spell off. I'll be fine."

"I'm not letting you go out there alone." Phoebe retorted.

"I won't be alone." Hermione said. "Harry and Ron are out there. Don't worry, Pheebs. Just be ready." Without waiting for Phoebe's response, Hermione rushed away from them and stopped behind a tree twenty feet away. She hesitated for a moment, then peeked out from behind the trunk and pointed her wand at Voldemort. There was a crack that sounded very much like the report of a large caliber rifle, and the ground around Voldemort's feet exploded.

The Dark Lord was tossed into the air and hit the ground hard. Stepping into the clearing, Hermione sent another spell hurtling toward him. Voldemort blocked the curse just in time and sent it soaring back towards Hermione. It hit a tree slightly to her left, shattering it. The tree cracked and began to fall towards Hermione. She tried to run, but tripped and fell to the ground. The falling tree slammed into the ground, missing Hermione by mere inches.

By this point, Voldemort had stood back up and was advancing on Hermione with fury in his red eyes.

"Avada…" he began, raising his wand.

"Now!" Harry shouted. "Do it now!" Piper, Phoebe, and Paige stepped into the clearing just as Voldemort finished his spell. The bolt of green light shot across the clearing toward Hermione, who still lay on the ground with no hope of dodging it. Phoebe watched the scene as though everything were moving in slow motion. She briefly considered rushing to her friend, but knew she could never reach her ahead of the spell.

"Piper!" Phoebe screamed. "Piper, freeze it!" Piper waved her hand and the killing curse stopped… centimeters from Hermione's face. Voldemort's eyes widened in shock.

"Phoebe, now!" Hermione screamed.

"Prudence, Penelope, Patricia," Phoebe began.

"Melinda, Astrid, Helena," Piper continued.

"Laura and Grace." Paige finished.

"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us." The sisters said together. "Vanquish this evil from time and space."

The explosion that ripped through the clearing blasted everyone present off of their feet and uprooted several trees. Harry was the first to get back up. He rushed over to the place where Voldemort had been standing. There was no trace that he had ever been there.

"Well done." Harry said as Piper and Paige approached.

"I never get tired of seeing the Charmed Ones do things like this." Ron said.

"I honestly forgot how much I enjoyed doing this until today." Piper confessed. "I've missed it."

"There are still plenty of chances for us to do it again." Phoebe said, walking toward them, supporting Hermione, who appeared to have injured her leg and received a deep cut on her right arm when she fell.

"Here, let me take care of that." Paige offered. She covered Hermione's injuries with her hands and began the healing process.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Phoebe asked.

"All we can do is wait for Draco." Harry told her. Ron nodded.

"And hope that he comes through for us.

-.-

**Halliwell Manor**

**San Francisco, California**

**Two Weeks Later… **

"I'm starting to get worried." Ginny said for the tenth time that morning. "He should have contacted us by now." Hermione looked up from her bowl of cereal and surveyed her friend from across the kitchen table.

"Draco's smart." Hermione told her. "He'll do fine, I wouldn't…" Her sentence was interrupted, however, by a loud crack. Draco Malfoy appeared in the middle of the kitchen, his hair disheveled and he was covered in dirt and sweat.

"Sorry I'm late." Draco said. "Getting the information took longer than I thought. Grindelwald's furious." Draco dropped a folded piece of parchment onto the table and moved over to Ginny, who quickly embraced him. Hermione, choosing to let the two lovers reunite, picked up the parchment and unfolded it.

"_Holy shit…_" Hermione whispered as she examined the parchment. Piper, who had been standing by the sink, came and looked over Hermione's shoulder.

"Grindelwald's offering one hell of a bounty for the three of you." Hermione said to Piper.

"He is at that." Draco said, releasing Ginny and dropping into a chair. "Bastard's pissed that the Charmed Ones killed his right hand man."

"Did you get his location?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded and extracted another piece of parchment. He passed it to Hermione, who studied it for a moment and then handed it to Piper.

"Any ideas?" Hermione asked.

"Well, it's obviously a map of the Underworld." Piper said. "I'll have to consult with Phoebe and Paige, but I'm pretty sure I know where this is."

"And…" Hermione pressed. "Where is it?"

"If I'm right, this is a map of the Source's old lair."

"And Grindelwald's there now?" Ginny asked.

"According to my sources, yes." Draco said. "Been there for around a week now."

"We've got to move." Piper said. "If Grindelwald resurrects the Source, we'll have a completely new set of problems."

-.-

"Um… Harry?"

"Hey, Mione." Harry said, looking up from the Book of Shadows he had been studying in the attic.

"Draco's back." Hermione told him. "He brought back a map of what Piper thinks is the Source's lair."

"That's great!" Harry said, leaping to his feet. "We've got him!"

Hermione nodded, her expression less than excited.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked her. Hermione sighed.

"I've got something to tell you." Hermione said, closing the attic door. "I'm not entirely sure how you're going to feel about it."

"Considering everything else that's going on, whatever you've got to say can't be very bad."

"Okay." Hermione said, sitting down on the old pink sofa. "Do you remember that night, a couple of weeks ago when I was mixing potions at three in the morning? I made the sleeping potion too strong and you carried me upstairs and we ended up…uh…?"

"_How_ could I forget that?" Harry asked, smiling.

"Well, there is _one_ thing we managed to forget." Hermione said breathlessly.

"And what is… oh, you're _not_ serious." Hermione nodded.

"I'm serious, Harry."

"Okay, fine…" Harry sighed. "So, you're pregnant."

"It's not the best way to reboot our relationship." Hermione said quietly.

"It isn't?" Harry asked. "Hermione, I love you. Another baby isn't a bad thing, after all. We've already got five children. Why not make it an even six?"

"Maybe you'll finally get the boy you wanted." Hermione said. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know." He said. "I think I've gotten used to having all girls."

"I thought you always said you needed a boy so he could help restore a bit of balance against all of the females in the house?"

"I live in a nice house, surrounded by beautiful women." Harry said proudly. "Who needs men?"

-.-

"Okay, so we're going after Grindelwald. What's the plan?"

"Well, I say we go in guns blazing." Draco suggested.

"As much as I like the sound of that idea," Harry said. "We'll need a more tactical plan."

"If we go in with an assault force, there's every possibility that Grindelwald will simply withdraw or we could be overwhelmed." Hermione said.

"Then what do you suggest?" Draco asked.

"I've been to the Source's lair before." Hermione said quietly. "From what I understand, the Underworld doesn't change much. One person should be able to slip past Grindelwald's defenses, especially considering that no one is even supposed to know he's there."

"If you're talking about going yourself, Mione…" Harry began.

"I'm the best choice." Hermione said. "I know the terrain. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself, and the potions we used during Voldemort's assault on Hogwarts should be more than enough to kill Grindelwald. All I have to do is get close enough."

"It's a good plan, Mum." Catherine said. "But it's risky… and you can't go alone."

"She's not going at all." Harry said sharply.

"Excuse me…?" Hermione said, arching her eyebrows.

"I'm not allowing my pregnant girlfriend to go off on an assassination mission against the most powerful dark wizard we've ever encountered."

"Harry's right, Mi." Phoebe said. "You can't go in your condition."

"Phoebe, I'm barely three weeks pregnant, I'm not dying." She sighed. "Look, I'm not opposed to having someone accompany me. But I _am _going."

"I'll go with you." Phoebe immediately volunteered.

"That's sweet, Phoebe." Hermione said. "But I'd rather not risk the Charmed Ones on this. If whoever goes down there doesn't come back… by then, Grindelwald will be onto us. The only hope left would probably be a Power of Three spell."

"Mi, if you're going, I'm going." Phoebe said. "No debate."

"Fine." Hermione relented. "The rest of you stay here and wait for us to come back. If we're not back in a day… Don't come for us. Grindelwald won't be there anyway, and we'll most likely be dead."

"I don't like this." Harry said. "This is too big of a risk." Hermione shrugged.

"Everything we do is."


	9. Fifth Floor: Potions, Wands, Dark Lord G

**Chapter 9**

**Fifth Floor: Potions, Wands, Dark Lord Grindelwald**

-.-

Hermione, Phoebe, and Paige orbed into an abandoned section of the Underworld, all three of them silently praying that the sound of Paige's orbing wouldn't have alerted anyone who might be nearby.

"Make sure nobody heard us." Hermione told Paige, who moved off to check the one of several passageways the branched off of the room.

"I still can't believe you talked me into bringing her." Hermione said to Phoebe, who was checking the condition of the vials of potions she carried in her pocket.

"She can help." Phoebe replied.

"Of course she can help." Hermione said. "But she could also die. I didn't want to risk anyone we didn't have to."

"Yet you're risking your own life by coming down here." Phoebe shot back. "Look, Mi, we need you. Voldemort, Grindelwald, we can handle them on our own. Dumbledore, though… he's a completely different story."

"I don't think anyone knows we're here." Paige said, stepping up to them.

"Alright then." Hermione said. "Let's go.

Together, the three of them set off along to dark, twisting passageways, doing their best to avoid detection. Several times they had to silently subdue a Death Eater guard, or carefully slip past a patrol. These tactics worked very well until the group reached a small chamber where at least half a dozen Death Eaters were gathered.

Hermione motioned toward a low, sloping incline that was dotted with large rocks. Together, they began to climb toward the Death Eaters, who remained oblivious to the three witches silently approaching them. Hermione stopped less than ten feet from the Death Eaters, ducking behind a large, boulder-sized rock that appeared to have fallen from the ceiling. She quietly pressed her back against the rock and lifted herself just enough so she could look over her shoulder and peek above the rock at the Death Eaters.

Ducking back down as a Death Eater glanced their way, Hermione used hand signals to tell Phoebe to pass her a potion vial. Taking a deep breath and peeking once more over the rock, she tossed the vial over the rock. It soared through the air and shattered in the middle of the group of Death Eaters. The blast that resulted blew out with the force of a small bomb. The shockwave washed over Hermione, Phoebe, and Paige, covering them with dust, smoke, and bits of rock.

After waiting several seconds, the trio slowly stood up. The Death Eaters were nowhere to be seen, having been vaporized due to their proximity to the blast.

"So much for stealth." Paige muttered.

"What in God's name was in that?" Hermione asked Phoebe, who shrugged.

"A bit of everything." Phoebe admitted, examining the seal on three more potion vials.

"What?" she asked, noticing the look Hermione was giving her.

"I didn't ask for a nuke." Hermione told her. "We could've used that on Grindelwald." Phoebe smiled.

"I've got four more." Phoebe told her. "Besides, I didn't give you the nuke. Paige has that one." Hermione glanced at Paige, who smiled innocently.

"Do I even want to know what you put in it?"

"Well, Catherine made a few suggestions." Phoebe began. "First, we…"

"Never mind." Hermione interrupted, shaking her head. "If Catherine had a hand in it, it'll blow San Francisco off of the map. Let's go."

They pressed on quickly and quietly, encountering no further resistance until they reached the Source's lair.

"Okay," Hermione said softly. "Remember to stay behind me. Don't make your move until I've got Grindelwald distracted. If he sees you coming, we'll blow it."

"Don't worry about us, Mi." Phoebe said. "We can handle it."

They slowly entered the dark, stone chamber. Grindelwald stood near the far wall with his back to them. He turned as they approached.

"Ah, Miss Granger!" He said as though he were delighted to see her. "It's quite good to see you again."

"I'd say the feeling's mutual," Hermione said. "But, you know…"

"And the Charmed Ones!" Grindelwald said, ignoring Hermione. "That's disappointing; you appear to be one witch short. I was so very much looking forward to ending the Charmed Ones all at once. Saves time, you see. Ah, well, I suppose I will have to hunt the last one down later."

"We don't plan on giving you the chance." Phoebe said sharply.

"Always so confident, aren't you?" Grindelwald mused. "Perhaps a fatal flaw on the good side?" Without warning, Grindelwald's wand appeared in his hand a flash black energy streaked away. It struck the ground at Hermione's feet and lifted all three of them into the air. Phoebe and Paige landed on the far side of the room, behind a low rock wall. Hermione had been blasted back toward to the door. She quickly scrambled to her feet and rushed into cover behind a stone pillar.

The battle began in earnest; spells crossed and crisscrossed the room. Flashes of green and red and strobes of purple of white. Explosions from missed spells blasted chunks of rock from the walls and ceiling. As a break in the fighting came, Hermione made to run to a more defensible position. A bolt of blue light caught her before she was even halfway there. She uttered a small yelp of pain and fell to the ground. Smiling, Grindelwald turned and walked over to where he knew Phoebe and Paige would be hiding. To his surprise, however, they were nowhere to be seen.

"They're already gone." Hermione said, holding a hand over her thigh, where Grindelwald's spell hand burned through her robes. The exposed skin was blackened and cracked. "They've gone for help."

"No they haven't." Grindelwald said, striding toward her and pulling her upright. "They would never abandon a friend!" Grindelwald lifted Hermione up and held her tightly in one arm and pressed his wand to her neck.

"Come out from where you're hiding or she dies!" He shouted. Across the room, Phoebe pulled an Invisibility Cloak off of herself and lowered it to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Mi." Phoebe said sadly. "He didn't leave me much choice."

"There's another!" Grindelwald roared. "There are three of you! Show yourself or they will both die!" Paige took off her own Invisibility Cloak and dropped it as well.

"A poor plan." Grindelwald told them. "Did you really think you could trick me so easily?"

"Obviously we did." Phoebe said. Both she and Paige tossed vials filled with black liquid straight at Grindelwald and Hermione. Grindelwald blasted Phoebe's out of the air, but as he turned to take down Paige's, Hermione seized her only chance. She reached up and grabbed Grindelwald's wand, knocking it off-target. Shocked by this sudden move, Grindelwald lost his grip and Hermione and she fell, unable to support herself with her injury. With seconds to spare, Hermione dragged herself behind a large rock to shield herself from the blast. The potion struck the ground and exploded. Grindelwald was engulfed in flames. Waves of fire washed over and around Hermione, who was only saved by the rock that shielded her.

When the smoke cleared, Phoebe and Paige hurried over to her.

"Not _exactly_ according to plan." Phoebe said, as Paige began to healing process. Hermione shrugged and winced.

"I improvised." Hermione said airily.

"There you are." Paige said, lifting her hands from Hermione's wound. "Good as new."

"Thanks." Hermione said. "C'mon, let's get…" She broke off, listening. A sudden crumbling noise sounded throughout the chamber.

"You know," Phoebe said worriedly. "Perhaps we shouldn't have used such a powerful potion down here. This chamber might not be stable."

"We should go." Hermione advised, just before the ceiling collapsed.


	10. All Alone in the Night

**Chapter 10**

**All Alone in the Night**

**-.-**

"I think Paige will be okay." Phoebe asked, stepping out of the darkness and kneeling beside Hermione. "She's unconscious, though. We won't be able to orb out until she wakes up."

"It wouldn't matter. If I can't Disapparate, you can bet that Grindelwald set up defenses against orbing as well." Hermione said, wincing as Phoebe gently uncovered Hermione's right leg.

"I think it might be broken." Phoebe said uncertainly. "I could try to fix it…" she added, eying Hermione's wand.

"No, thanks." Hermione said at once. "I've already seen what happens to a person when magic is used to heal broken bones by someone who doesn't know what they're doing." Hermione passed her the wand. "Just conjure a split. That'll do until we get out of here."

Phoebe looked up. The passageway had collapsed on them, leaving them trapped in the Source's lair. The only thing that managed to save them was Hermione's quick thinking. She managed to use magic to support a small area of the collapsed ceiling, creating a very small pocket for them to survive. She had then proceeded to fuse the debris together to form a semi-stable room around them. During the process, however, both Paige and Hermione had been injured. The space was completely dark and barely tall enough to stand up in, but it was quite wide, nearly twenty feet. Using Hermione's wand, Phoebe had managed to conjure jars and filled them with magical bluebell flames.

"You really think we're getting out of here?" Phoebe asked, voicing her fears at last. "You told Harry not to come after us if we never came back."

"Maybe you haven't noticed, Pheebs, but Harry doesn't listen to me. I tell him things to make myself feel better. In fact, it's been my experience that by telling him to stay away will actually encourage him to come. I'm not worried about whether they'll come… it's whether they'll be able to find us."

"And if they can't?"

"You have to ask, Phoebe?" Hermione asked, a grim smile on her face.

"Well, shouldn't we try to dig ourselves out, then?" Phoebe suggested. "Even if we can't get out completely, it might help them find us."

"I don't know how stable the rock above us is." Hermione said. "If you try to blast your way through it, you might bring the ceiling down on our heads." Phoebe sighed.

"Way to be a downer." she said. Hermione attempted to sit up slowly, but Phoebe pushed her back down.

"Don't try to move." Phoebe told her. "A lot of debris hit you when the cave came down. I had to dig you out. There may be internal bleeding, but there's nothing I can do about it. Just sit still for now, Mi."

"If I'm bleeding internally then sitting still isn't going to do me much good." Hermione told her.

"But it won't help you, either." Phoebe retorted. "Just give me a minute and let me think of a way out of here. I mean, we've been in worse situations."

"Oh yeah?" Hermione said. "Name two."

"Okay, there was the time Dumbledore killed Ron and Luna and we all ended up running to a Caribbean island. Or there's always the time you and Dumbledore were killed and Voldemort destroyed Hogwarts. Oh and what about…"

"Alright, fine." Hermione said, holding up her hands. "I give up, you win."

Phoebe smiled.

"I usually do."

-.-

"They should have been back by now."

"It's only been eight hours, Harry. Be patient."

"I've been patient, Piper." Harry replied, standing up from the kitchen table and walking over to the sink. "We've got to go after them."

"Harry, Hermione told you not to go. She was right; this is bigger than any one person, even my sisters. If they failed to kill Grindelwald, then we've tipped our hand. We need to prepare for an attack."

"Then prepare for one." Harry told her, picking up his wand from the counter and walking toward the door. "But I'm going after them."

-.-

Phoebe awoke quiet suddenly in the darkness of their prison with a plan fully formed in her mind. She quickly grabbed Hermione's wand, lit the tip, and scrambled to Hermione's side.

"Mi, I've got it!" she exclaimed excitedly. "C'mon, wake up! I know how to get us out of here!" When Hermione didn't move, Phoebe gently shook her.

"Mi?" She frantically checked her friend's pulse. It was there, but weak. "Come _on_, Mione!" Finally, Hermione's eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, thank God!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I thought I lost you for a second."

"Not yet." Hermione whispered.

"Listen, Mi. I've got a plan. What if, instead of trying to blast our why out of the top of the dome, we dug underneath it?"

"You mean you want to make a tunnel out of here?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly!" Phoebe said.

"You don't know how far you'd need to go." Hermione said. "It could take you days to dig that far, even with magic."

"I know." Phoebe replied. "But at least I'd be doing something to get us out of this."

"Okay." Hermione relented. "If you want to try, go ahead. Just be careful."

"I'm always careful." Phoebe stood and made to walk away, but then stopped and turned back to Hermione. "Make sure you're still here when I get back."

"I'm not going anywhere just yet." Hermione told her. Phoebe moved a dozen feet from Hermione, pointed the wand at the ground, and began to slowly burn her way through the stone.

After nearly six hours, Phoebe had made little progress. She couldn't use explosive spells to blast her way through the rock and the spell she was using was far slower and intensely hot in such and enclosed space. At last she lowered the wand and collapsed beside Hermione, drenched in sweat.

"Any luck?" Hermione asked, her eyelids fluttering with the effort to remain open.

"Not much." Phoebe said, glancing back at the red-rimmed hole she had created. "I've gone four, maybe five feet so far. I would keep going, but I'm afraid the heat might end up killing us."

"It was a good idea, Phoebe." Hermione told her. "You had to try something."

"Maybe I _should_ try to break through the ceiling." Phoebe said.

"Give Harry more time." Hermione whispered. "Let him try."

"He needs to hurry." Phoebe said. Silence fell between them for nearly half an hour before Hermione spoke.

"Phoebe?"

"Yeah, Mi?"

"Listen, I… I don't think I have much time left." Hermione said softly. "I need to tell you something."

"No!" Phoebe exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. "Don't start talking like that, Mi."

"Phoebe, this is important." Hermione pressed. "If I don't make it out of here, I need you to do something for me."

"Please, don't do this." Phoebe said, turning her head to stare at the dark, rock wall.

"I want you to take care of Harry." Hermione said. "He'll grieve, but not right away. He still has a war to fight, and he'll see it through. But after it's over… My death wouldn't just be about me, Phoebe. He'd loose his children, too. I don't honestly know what that might do to him. So, please promise you'll be there for him if he needs you."

"You know I will be, Mi." Phoebe assured her.

"Yes, I…" Hermione broke off, her eyes narrowing. Phoebe heard it too. A low rumbling sound had begun to fill the air around them. It started softly, almost too quiet to hear. As it grew steadily louder, Phoebe stood and walked over to the stone wall and pressed her palm against the rock. The hard stone vibrated beneath her fingertips. It began to slowly grow warmer the longer she stood there as well as vibrating more intensely. At last the rock grew so hot she could no longer touch it and she backed away. The wall soon began to glow; orange at first, but soon it grew to a fiery red.

After a quarter of an hour, the wall of collapsed rock began to shatter and fall. Hot fragments fell to the ground, revealing a hole out of the room. As the last of the stone was burned away, Harry stepped into the stone shelter. At least a dozen other people that Phoebe couldn't clearly see due to the dust and smoke filling the air stood in passageway behind him. Harry walked over to her as the others rushed to Paige and Hermione.

"Hermione's going to be pissed." Phoebe said, smiling with relief. "She told you not to come." Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I don't listen to her."

-.-

A week later, life was mostly back to normal at the Halliwell manor. With the decisive elimination of two of the most powerful dark wizards in recent memory, the magical world was suddenly free of war and terror. All was well, except for some strange goings on at Hogwarts.

The magical school, sealed off from the rest of the world after Voldemort's attack, had still not been reopened. No one could get in and no one seemed to have gotten out, either. None of the teachers had been seen since the attack, but a Ministry of Magic investigation team claimed to have seen what looked like Death Eaters patrolling the castle walls. To the Ministry, it appeared that Death Eaters had apparently stormed the school and taken the teachers as hostages. To the inhabitants of the Halliwell manor, the truth was obvious. Dumbledore knew what was really going on.

"How could he, though?" Paige asked the entire group when they assembled in the attic to prepare a course of action. "We were so careful."

"Not careful enough, apparently." Hermione replied, closing the Book of Shadows and sighing.

"So, what do we do?" Luna asked. "We can't just sit by and do nothing."

"No, we have to act." Ginny said. "The problem is whatever we do, Dumbledore will see coming."

"Not necessarily." said Harry. "We're forgetting one thing. Just because Dumbledore knows that we know what he's up to, doesn't mean he knows where we're from."

"You think he doesn't know we're from the future?" Hermione asked.

"I do." Harry replied. "And if I'm right, we have the upper hand."

"Perhaps, but I don't know what good that does us." Hermione said. "Our best hope was that Dumbledore never find out that we knew about him. If he didn't know, we could subdue him whenever we wanted to. Now, we'll have to fight him."

"Attack Hogwarts?" Phoebe asked. "That's suicide, Mi."

"It might have been the last time we attacked Hogwarts, but this time things are different." Hermione said. "We may not have Atlantis arriving at the eleventh hour to save everyone, but we _are _better prepared than last time. Hogwarts isn't shielded this time around, because I haven't created the shield potion yet. Dumbledore's forces are most likely smaller at the moment than before, and let's not forget the Power of Three."

"Hermione's right." Harry said. "If we wait, we may never get another chance. We need to gather whoever we can and hit Hogwarts as hard as we can."

"And what about Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

"I've been thinking about that." Hermione said. "I'm going to face him alone."  
"You'll never win against him, Mum." Miley said.

"I don't need to win, sweetie." Hermione said. "I just need to keep him distracted while the rest of you secure the castle."

"And once he realizes he's lost Hogwarts?" Danielle asked. "He'll kill you."

"Not if he wants all his work to go to waste." Hermione replied. "He needs me. He won't risk everything he's done that easily. He won't kill me unless he has to."

"This is reckless, Mione." Draco said sharply. "We can think of something else."

"And risk Dumbledore escaping?" Hermione shot back. "No, this has to end. Nothing else matters, Draco. Not my life, not yours… any of ours. Dumbledore has to be stopped and we're the only one's who can stop him."

"If you're set on doing this, Mi, I'm going with you." Phoebe said.

"Like hell you are." Hermione said. "Dumbledore doesn't need you, Phoebe. He'd kill you just to get the Charmed Ones out of the way. I won't risk…"

"You said it yourself, Mi," Phoebe said. "Nothing else matters but ending the war."

"You aren't going to…."

"I'm coming with you, Mi. I've never lost one of these fights with you before and I'm not starting now."

"Phoebe, please…"

"Hermione, if you're going then so am I." Phoebe said. She knelt down in front of Hermione, placed her hands on the younger woman's knees and stared straight into her eyes.

"We're in this together, Mi." she said softly. "I can't let you walk in there alone. I won't." Hermione sighed, staring deeply into Phoebe's eyes. The resolve she found there was unwavering.

"You can come," Hermione said at last. "But there's one condition."

"Name it." Phoebe replied.

"A moment may come, Phoebe," Hermione said slowly. "A moment when I ask you to abandon me. If that should happen, I… you must promise me that you will run… as fast and as far as you can." Phoebe stared at Hermione for a long moment, before slowly nodding.

"We still need to prepare a plan for the attack itself." Harry said quietly. "And we'll need to contact the Ministry."

"I'll Floo to London right away." Ron volunteered.

"Good." said Harry. "Let's head down to the kitchen and get to work." As everyone began filing out of the room, Harry silently gripped Hermione's shoulder as she reached for the Book of Shadows. When the hem of Miley's skirt vanished behind the doorframe, Harry released her.

"I know what you're planning." Harry said quietly, walking away from her and sitting down on the old, pink sofa. "And I'm begging you to reconsider." Hermione didn't speak for a long time. She slowly traced the symbol on the front of the Book of Shadows with her fingertips.

"It's the only way, Harry." She said at last. "And you know it."

"It doesn't have to be you." Harry countered. "Someone else could…"

"You expect me to ask someone else to fight my battles for me?"

"Phoebe would do it." Harry told her.

"You want me to ask _Phoebe_?" Hermione exclaimed, sounding shocked.

"Anyone but you, Mione." said Harry.

"I won't do that." She said softly. "This is my fight, Harry. It's my responsibility to see this through. I have to do it."

"And have you explained this to our girls?" Harry asked. "Do _they _know what you're going to do?"

"Catherine does." Hermione replied. "She understands. She said that in a way she always knew it would end up like this."

"This isn't right, Hermione!" Harry said loudly, standing to his feet.

"What isn't right is what we've done, Harry!" Hermione retorted. "We've altered history to the point that it no longer even remotely resembles what it once did. I did a lot of investigating after Phoebe left Atlantis. So much has been changed because of Dumbledore… because of us."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You and I were never meant to be together, Harry." Hermione replied. "We never met the Charmed Ones… so many things… The world was supposed to be a very different place. I saw the world before Dumbledore's interference and nothing was as it is now. He's changed so much, Harry… and so have we. It has to stop… and I'm the only one who can put a stop to everything Dumbledore began."

"Killing Dumbledore won't put the world back the way it should have been."

"No, it won't." Hermione admitted. "But it's the best we can do."

"There has to be another way." Harry said. "There has to be a way to get you out."

"I've run this scenario through my head a hundred times, Harry." Hermione said, lifting a potion vial filled with black liquid off of the table and stared into it. "Other ways _might _work… but this is the only way to be sure. It's the only way he'll be unable to escape."

"He'll never see it coming." Harry said quietly. Hermione smiled grimly.

"He'd never expect it from us."

"What about Phoebe?" Harry asked. "How will she get out?"

"Don't worry about Phoebe." Hermione said. "She'll be fine. I'll make sure she's safe."

"You're crazy, Hermione." Harry said quietly. "You know that, right?"

"I've been told before." Hermione said, a small smile on her face. Hermione sighed and started toward the door, then stopped.

"Harry," she said. "I won't get another chance to tell you this, and I… I've always meant to tell you, but I was so afraid you'd never forgive me." She sank down onto the sofa beside and gazed into his piercing green eyes.

"You remember back in our seventh year at Hogwarts that I disappeared on the night we arrived?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "you said you spent the night in the hospital wing."

"But you always knew I was lying, didn't you?" Harry nodded.

"I suspected." Harry said. "But Mione, whatever happened it can't be so bad that I couldn't forgive you."

"Don't be so sure." Hermione told him. "I assume that you also remember during the previous summer Dumbledore requested that your aunt and uncle allow themselves to be taken into the Ministry's protection? He was concerned that Voldemort might try to procure information from them."

"Of course I remember." Harry said. "They weren't happy about it, as I recall. But what does any of that have to do with you?"

"Dumbledore sent me a letter while I was on the Hogwarts Express, I…"

"I remember you getting that letter." Harry said suddenly. "You looked like someone had just torn your world apart."

"Yeah… Dumbledore had a mission for me. He said the situation with your aunt and uncle had to be dealt with. He sent me to speak with them one last time that very night. He told me to ask them to comply with the Ministry's requests and if they refused… I was to… rectify the situation."

"You killed them, didn't you?" Harry asked.

"On direct orders from Dumbledore." Hermione replied, shaking her head. "Harry, I'm so sorry, I… I trusted Dumbledore explicitly, I thought he knew what was best, I… If I'd known who he really was back then, I'd have…"

"Hermione, stop." Harry said sharply. Hermione stopped speaking at once. Harry stood up and walked across the room. Hermione watched him closely.

"I hate that you had to do that, Mione." Harry said quietly. "But I'm not angry with you."

"But I…"

"Those people may have technically been my family, but they put me through hell. Nothing like what happened to you, obviously, but none of them ever cared for me. I wasn't sad in the least when I found out they had been killed and it doesn't change anything now that I know you're the one that did it."

"I murdered the only family you had." Hermione said sadly. "You're not even upset?"

"Like I said," Harry replied. "I don't like the fact that you're the one that did it because I know that must have been terrible for you. But as far that the Dursleys go, hell no I'm not upset." Hermione nodded slowly and got up to leave.

"Wait." Harry called after her. "You told me something you've kept secret for a long time. Well, I've got something I've never told you and… I guess I need to now."

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"It's about Electra." Harry replied.

"Harry, I know about you and Alex already." Hermione said. "Catherine told me the two of you were involved for a while. Its okay, I don't mind. She was a great girl, I'm glad she was happy."

"Yeah, she… she was, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how she died. Voldemort was attacking the school constantly back then. We were being raided weekly with major conflicts interspersed between. During one massive assault by Voldemort, the garrison at Hogwarts was overrun and Voldemort nearly took over the castle. Alex and I had hidden in the Chamber of Secrets. We were cut off from every escape route and we hoped no one would think to look for us there. We survived for a week before anyone found us. Voldemort came down personally. He and I fought for a long time. Alex obviously wasn't a witch, so she couldn't help me. I tried to protect her, but she… somehow she ended up between me and Voldemort… I've always told myself it was his spell that hit her, but I… I think I killed her." Harry looked up at Hermione through tear-filled eyes. "She loved me, Mione. She trusted me and I killed her."

"Harry, you don't know that." Hermione told him. "You can't know what happened. Maybe it was your spell, maybe it wasn't but you can't blame yourself. You tried to keep her safe. She wouldn't blame you, Harry, I know that much. I don't blame you either."

"No matter what happened, I… I still failed her."

"But you didn't!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry, if it was you then it was an accident. I knew her very well, Harry. She was a lot like me, actually. There's no way she would have wanted to be anyplace else."

"You're right about that, you are like her." Harry said, his grim expression lifting slightly. "She was crazy and so are you."


	11. The End of All Things, Part One

**-.-**

**Chapter 11**

**The End of All Things, Part One**

-.-

In the years to come, the battle at Hogwarts would be remembered not only as the last engagement ever staged at the magical school, but also as one of the shortest, and ironically, one of the bloodiest.

The attack by the Order of the Phoenix came so quickly and suddenly that by the time Dumbledore's forces realized what was happening, the invaders were already inside. The battle, however, was only a diversion; a well-crafted plan to give Hermione and Phoebe enough time to sneak into the headmaster's office and hopefully defeat him… at least unless he elected to join the battle in the Entrance Hall several floors below.

Despite loathing flying, Hermione guided her broomstick up to the window of Dumbledore's office.

"Ready?" She asked Phoebe, who clung to her as though life depended on it.

"To jump off a broomstick and through a window a hundred feet in the air? No!"

"_Phoebe_." Hermione said sternly.

"Oh, _fine_!" Phoebe retorted. Hermione blasted the stained glass window apart and Phoebe scrambled through, Hermione right behind her.

"He's not here…" Phoebe said, her eyes scanning the room.

"Check the corridor." Hermione said, moving toward the headmaster's desk. Phoebe nodded and turned to the passage that led to the spiraling staircase, only to come face to face with Albus Dumbledore. Phoebe barely had time to register what she was seeing before Dumbledore's spell blasted her across the room. Hermione met a similar fate mere seconds later. She landed on the floor behind the headmaster's desk, her wand slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.

A third spell caught Phoebe once again as she made a dash for the wand Hermione had dropped. Dumbledore advanced into the room, ignoring Phoebe's attempts to stand and focused his attention on Hermione.

"How did you know?" he asked. Hermione simply smirked as she stood and sat down quiet calmly in Dumbledore's own high backed chair.

"I have my ways." was all she said. Her gaze flickered to Phoebe for a split second, and in that time Phoebe clearly heard Hermione's voice say 'Get out'.

"Always a clever remark, eh?" Dumbledore asked. "I knew there was something odd about you… all of you. You've known all along, haven't you?"

"For the past six months, yes." Hermione told him.

"And how did you learn I was behind everything?" Dumbledore asked. "Who told you it was I who masterminded all that has transpired?" Hermione's smile grew wider.

"You did." she explained. Dumbledore nodded.

"You've come back from the future." he said, suddenly understanding. "That's all it could have been."

"Does it matter?" Hermione asked. "I know what you've been up to and I know why… but stop. We can end this now, all of it. We've already killed Voldemort and Grindelwald… there's no point in this."

"There _is _a point, Ms. Granger!" Dumbledore shouted. "You have to be prepared! You know what lies ahead for you, and you must claim it! I know you have suffered, I know you must despise me, but nevertheless I have done all these things so that you would be ready for the burden you must carry!"

"It's a burden I don't want!" Hermione shouted. "I've never wanted it! I won't go through with it."

"It is your destiny, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said sternly.

"I don't give a damn!" Hermione retorted. "I'm not giving up my friends, my family, my life… for what? Power? I don't want power!"

"Ms. Granger… Hermione, please… you _must _fulfill your destiny. If you do not, all my efforts… You know what I must do if you refuse your birthright." Hermione nodded grimly.

"To hell with my birthright." she growled.

What happened next happened so quickly it took Phoebe several seconds to realize what Dumbledore had done. Dumbledore raised his wand and shot what looked like a rod of steel from the tip of his wand. It went straight through Hermione's stomach and out the back of her chair. The rod clattered against the wall and fell to the floor. Dumbledore blasted the desk out of the way, now standing between Hermione and Phoebe, who had managed to maneuver herself close to the door.

With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore pushed Hermione out of the chair. She attempted to push herself up, holding herself upright with her left arm, while holding the right over the wound in her stomach. As Phoebe watched in horror, she saw it. A potion vial was clutched in her right hand, filled with a black liquid Phoebe would recognize anywhere. Hermione held the very same potion Catherine had concocted once, long, long ago, to destroy Grindelwald. Phoebe stared at her, the rest of the universe seeming to stop as she asked the question with her eyes. Hermione simply nodded, a tear running slowly down her cheek. Phoebe turned and ran. Dumbledore stood over Hermione, his eyes taking in the rapidly spreading pool of blood surrounding the young brunette.

"I had such high hopes for you, little one." the old man said. He turned away, leaving Hermione to slowly push herself into a sitting position, only to slip back over again. Finally, she managed to hold herself slightly by lying on her side and using her arm to support her slender form. The headmaster smiled as she struggled.

"You could have done great things." he said, watching the battle rage below through the window. Hermione took a firmer grip on the vial in her hands, praying that Dumbledore did not turn around.

"I did do great things." Hermione said. Her voice shook and she felt dizzy and faint. The blood loss was about to claim her, but she had to give Phoebe enough time to get away.

"I graduated at the top of my class at Hogwarts, I created over half of the spells and potions used to bring down Voldemort… I married a wonderful man and together we raised five beautiful young women who are stronger and braver than I had ever hoped given these terrible times. I helped bring down the most powerful dark wizards of all time… I think that's enough."

"You could have done more." Dumbledore told her.

"In my lifetime, I've seen and done more things than most people could ever imagine. I've found some of the best, most loyal friends anyone could want. I've already got everything I could ever want. For the first time in my life, I realize… I'm actually happy."

"And your destiny?" Dumbledore asked.

"No one lays out my path." Hermione said. Dumbledore turned to face her as she channeled all her strength into crushing the vial beneath her palm. "I choose my own destiny."

The flash of light washed over them both and the blast of heat enveloped the office. Hermione felt a gentle tingle as a wave of fire engulfed the headmaster and rushed towards her. She let herself slip onto her back, her head tilting to face the door where Phoebe had departed. Thinking back, she had no regrets. She had lived a very full life, and until this very moment, she hadn't realized just how happy she had been. She had always focused on the bad things in life, always seeing the darkest moments instead of the things that brought light into her life. As odd as it was, she at last, in her final moments of life, discovered what it meant to _live_.

-.-

Phoebe reached the bottom of the spiral staircase and had barely taken a half dozen steps when the potion detonated. The blast was so powerful it lifted her off of her feet and sent her tumbling down the corridor. Her head hit something hard and the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the passageway collapsing around her.

-.-

Harry sat on the floor of the Entrance Hall, leaning causally against the stone wall, twirling his wand between his fingers.

"This is a waste of time." Ginny muttered as she slowly paced the length of the room.

"Someone needed to guard our exit, Gin." Harry said.

"Yeah, but did it have to be us?" Paige asked from her seat next to Harry.

"Yes, it did. Look, I'd much rather be off fighting the bad guys, but sometimes we can't do that. Anyway, once Hermione and Phoebe get back, we'll all be getting out of here."

"You really think they're coming back?" Ginny asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course." Harry said, but his voice and facial expression didn't match his words.

"They should have taken backup." Paige told them. Harry shook his head.

"This… all this, it's personal to Hermione. This war is between her and Dumbledore… somehow, I think it always has been… She's got to be the one to end it."

"And you think Hermione can kill Dumbledore?" Ginny asked him.

"All I know is this; Hermione's going to end this. Whether she'll come back or not… I can't say."

"But even if she doesn't… the Elders, they'd make her a Whitelighter, wouldn't they?" Ginny asked. "After all she's been through…" Harry shrugged.

"I don't think she'd accept it if they offered it to her."

"What?" Paige asked. Harry shook his head.

"It's something Hermione said last night. She told me this was going to be the end, no matter what happened, after this, after today, she was done with fighting. If she became a Whitelighter, she'd be fighting evil for eternity. She doesn't want that, and I can't ask her to do it. If she dies… this time, I think she'll really be gone for good."

-.-

Phoebe woke slowly, blinking at the debris that filled the air and at the bright sunlight falling down upon her through what had once been the ceiling. The entire passageway had collapsed, filling the corridor with debris and large pieces of stone.

Phoebe stood shakily to her feet and felt her head. Her hair was matted with blood from where she had hit her head. Her skull felt like it was on fire, her headache was so bad. She knew she must have a concussion, and she was covered in cuts and bruises, but none of those things stopped her from crawling through the shattered remains of the corridor and ambling back up the steps to the headmaster's office.

The blast had torn the office apart. All of the windows had been blown out and much of the ceiling had collapsed. The air was filled with dust and smoke from a number of fires that burned around her. She wasn't entirely sure why she had returned to this place. She had seen what happened to people consumed in the blast of one of those potions, but still… she couldn't leave unless she was sure, unless she saw Hermione's body for herself she would never believe she was dead.

She dug through the debris for what felt like hours, though it could only have been a few minutes. She was at the point of giving up, ready to assume that both Hermione and Dumbledore, having been at the epicenter of the blast, had simply been incinerated, when she saw a glimmer of silver lying near a large pile of rubbish. Phoebe hurried over and discovered the source of the glimmer was the sunlight reflecting off of the engagement ring Harry had given Hermione, which was still around her finger. She felt her friend's wrist for a pulse, but found none. Quickly, she began clearing away debris, freeing Hermione. It was clear to Phoebe, even before she had seen the rest of Hermione's body, that she was gone. The lifeless form she now cradled in her arms merely bore the appearance of her best friend. That thought, however, didn't serve to stop the tears. Phoebe simply sat on the floor, Hermione's slender form cradled in her lap, the young brunette's head tucked under Phoebe's chin.

She wouldn't move, she couldn't… not even when the rescue teams dug their way through the devastation the short battle had brought to the school and found her twelve hours later. It had taken her other friends coming up to what remained of Dumbledore's office to convince her to release Hermione and allow herself to be checked by a team of healers.

"Hermione's gone," Harry had whispered in her ear. "but you're still with us. Come on, you're hurt and I don't want to lose you too."

-.-

Phoebe sat at the base of the old oak tree by the lake, staring out at the icy, black water. Even a week later, the events in Dumbledore's office were no less clear. The world around her was slowly recovering from the rapid elimination of not only four sources of evil, but one of the wizarding world's most revered leaders. There was constant talk of what would happen next, and where the magical community would go now, but it was all useless noise to her.

She sat there for hours, simply staring at the lake, not really seeing it at all. It was nearly twenty degrees outside and she only wore a thin jacket, but she was oblivious to the cold. She had heard footsteps approach her several times throughout the day, but no one had actually spoken to her. She was sure it had been her sisters coming to check on her, but perhaps neither of them knew how to console her. So it came with some surprise that the latest approaching footsteps didn't stop at their usual spot, but instead came right next to her. The person sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Phoebe didn't turn to see who it was, instead she looked up at the overcast sky… at least until the person spoke.

"At least now I know you'd miss me if I was dead." Phoebe turned her head so fast she cricked her neck.

"Hermione?" She said, staring at her best friend with unbelieving eyes. Hermione smiled and leaned her head back against the tree.

"Don't get too excited, Pheebs." Hermione said.

"But, you're… you're alive! I can't…"

"No, sweetie." Hermione said. "I'm not alive. I was granted permission to come see one of you. I picked you."

"Why me?" Phoebe asked, not understanding why she would not go to Harry instead.

"Because Harry understands, honey. You don't. You don't see why this had to happen, why I had to die. To you, it doesn't seem fair… maybe it isn't."

"It's _not _fair!" Phoebe exclaimed. "After everything we've been through, why couldn't you have survived? I thought… after we made it back here, after we fixed everything…"

"You thought everything was finally going to be alright." Hermione said.

"Well, yeah." Phoebe sighed.

"Oh, baby… I'm sorry, but… sometimes everything doesn't turn out okay. This is one of those times. I know you're sad, I know this isn't what you wanted, but…"

"But, what?" Phoebe asked.

"This is what you've got." Hermione explained. "You've got to live with it."

"There has to be a way to fix this." Phoebe countered.

"Not everything can be fixed, Phoebe. Sometimes things just happen and you have to accept them."

"I can't, not this… not now."

"Honey, I have to go. You know I can't stay, but I need you to understand…"

"Understand what?" Phoebe demanded. "Why you had to die? Why I've got to go on without the person who happens to mean the world to me, who I would willingly lay down my own life for without a thought? Is that what I'm supposed to understand? Well, I'm sorry, but I can't do that…"

"You would do that?" Hermione asked. "You would be willing to die for her?"

"I… of course I would, why does that…" Phoebe broke off.

"There is still a chance to save her, but you must move quickly."

"Wait a minute." Phoebe said. "You keep saying 'her', I thought… None of this is real, is it? I'm not really here, and you… you're not really Hermione, are you?"

"Never said I was." The figure appearing as Hermione said. Phoebe's eyes narrowed slightly and then she smiled as though a sudden understanding had come over her.

"Then let me get back there!" Phoebe exclaimed. "If she's still alive, if I can save her, I…"

"She is not still alive, Phoebe."

"Then how am I suppose to…" Phoebe began.

"You already know what you must do, Phoebe." Phoebe stared for a moment, then clapped her hand over her mouth."

"Of _course_!" she said. "But… but what if it's broken? A corridor collapsed on me, it might have cracked and…"

"It did not. The tool you need is still whole."

"Then send me back, I've got to try to do this." Phoebe said.

"You will be returned."

"Thank you, thank you so much…" Phoebe whispered. "Prue."


	12. The End of All Things, Part Two

**-.-**

**Chapter 12**

**The End of All Things, Part Two**

-.-

A sharp pain coursed through Phoebe's body, startling her out of her dreaming state and back into reality. She struggled to her feet, whimpering in pain and holding a hand over her left forearm, which was bleeding freely. She had a dozen other injuries covering her body, and her head felt like someone had cleaved it in two.

She moved back toward Dumbledore's office, stumbling through the ruined corridor, avoiding the half dozen fires blazing through the area. Fear gripped her heart as she reaching the headmaster's office, fearing that her pain induced visions might prove true. The blast had shattered the room and Phoebe felt hopelessness settle into her heart as she began her fruitless search.

Phoebe found her at last, though she bore no resemblance to the Hermione she had known. The fiery blast had scalded her skin, leaving it red; blistered and cracked. With strength she had never realized she possessed, Phoebe managed to extract Hermione from beneath a massive section of ceiling that had collapsed upon her.

Cradling the dusty, blood soaked girl in her arms; she hauled her to a relatively clear section of floor and deposited her limp form with extreme care. There was no need to check for signs of life, for it was all but evident that Hermione was dead. Phoebe was too focused on what she had to do for this fact to upset her; for if her plan worked, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Phoebe reached into her pocket and gave a small sigh of relief when her hand closed around the small vial inside. It hadn't broken. She pulled the vial out and opened it. Although she had kept the vial containing the last remnants of Aqua Vitae with her since Hermione had given it to her on Atlantis nearly three years before, she had never once opened it. The smell that emitted from the open vial was the most wondrous scent Phoebe had ever encountered.

Without further delay, she gently opened Hermione's mouth and poured the contents of the vial down her throat. Phoebe had just begun to think about how long it might take to start working when Hermione gave a loud, surprised gasp and sat up, coughing. Phoebe gaped at her. It was as though the flames had never touched her. Her skin was unburned and flawless. Hermione's hair fell in elegant curls around her face as though styled by the one of the best hair stylists. Her cinnamon eyes sparkled brightly and Phoebe swore she looked at least five years younger than she had that morning.

"Phoebe… what?" Hermione coughed, shaking her head. "What happened?"

"You died is what happened." Phoebe told her, a broad smile on her face.

"Then how…" Phoebe held up the now-empty vial, turned it upside down, and tapped the bottom softly.

"This wasn't what I gave that to you for." Hermione said sharply. Phoebe looked stunned.

"But, I thought…" she began. Hermione's stern expression fell, however, and she pulled Phoebe into a tight hug.

"Thank you." she whispered.

-.-

It would take nearly a day for rescue crews to work their way to the headmaster's shattered office and take Hermione and Phoebe to safety. In that time, the magical community had rallied and begun to rebuild, despite the shock of the sudden elimination of not one, but four evil magical beings, not to mention the death of a very prominent leader in the magical world.

In truth, very few people actually knew for certain what had truly transpired that night at Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic was claiming that Death Eaters, now leaderless, devised the assault on the school and had murdered the headmaster.

Harry had been outraged that Dumbledore, the cause of all the war and death, was being heralded as a victim and serving as a rallying point for the reconstruction efforts. Hermione, however, had convinced him that perhaps it was best to let it go. The world had been though quite enough already and there was no need to reveal to them that Dumbledore had been behind everything that had happened. The world needed comfort now, needed something to believe in… they needed hope. If rallying around Albus Dumbledore's memory gave them that, then Hermione refused to take it from them.

-.-

…_Officials claim the assault on Hogwarts School was the work of dark wizards or witches left without leadership after the sudden fall of You-Know-Who, as well as many of his inner circle. The sudden attack was decisively repelled by Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix with only minimal losses. A spokeswizard for Hogwarts School suggests that the new school year will still begin as planned on September First, despite the apparent battle damage and loss of its long-standing headmaster. As of yet, a replacement has not been found." _

Ron folded up the paper he had been reading from and placed it on the table.

"They could have at least mentioned us." Ginny said from her position on the floor near the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Its part of their cover story I suppose." Luna said. "Don't want anyone knowing what really happened here."

"Although I think this might be the first conspiracy theory you've been right about, Luna," Piper said. "Even the Ministry doesn't know the whole story… not the time-travel bits anyway. They're just reporting what they think they know."

"And that's all they'll ever know." Hermione said, dropping onto the sofa between Phoebe and Harry. "I don't even want to think about what would happen if they ever figured out what really took place."

"You think it'd really be that bad?" Paige asked, pausing the game of Exploding Snap she was playing with Miley and Danielle.

"Honestly, I'd rather we never found out."

"Agreed." Draco said, tossing the newspaper Ron had sat down into the fire.

"What if they figure it out on their own?" Hope asked.

"Could they, though?" Elizabeth said. "What evidence is there?"

"Well, there's the fact that you, me, Hope, Miley, and Danielle are going to disappear from the face of the earth in a few days." Catherine said.

"I'm not sure that'll be enough to draw the attention of the Ministry." Danielle said, wincing as she placed a card down, half expecting her deck to explode.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Phoebe said. "When Chris died, the police noticed."

"Yeah, but they were already suspicious of you." Miley put in.

"True." Piper said. "Then again, the magical world is more than a little curious as to what really happened."

"To be honest, I'm not even going to worry about it." Hermione said, resting her head on Harry's shoulder. "We've been through enough. The war's over… I don't think any of us ought to be thinking about what might happen if the Ministry catches on."

"I agree." Phoebe said. "We won. I mean, we really won this time. It's actually over."

"Yeah, we said that last time." Piper said.

"And the time before that." Harry put in.

"And the time before _that_." Ron added.

"What do you think, Mi?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, there's still evil out there." Hermione said. "We never got Zankou, not to mention all the other demons. The war, though… yeah, I'd say that this time around we won."

"So, we got the textbook happy ending then?" Draco said.

"Well, I don't know about that." Hermione said. "We've been through a lot of hell to get here. We lost a lot of people, a lot of friends. I'm just content with the fact that everyone here survived and we brought down the bad guys."

"Then I say we call it a win." Harry said. Smiling, he conjured a tray filled with glasses and a bottle of wine. He poured each of them a drink, and raised his glass.

"To victory." said Harry.

"To family." said Phoebe.

"To the future." said Catherine. Everyone paused to look at Hermione, who was next in line to speak.

"To… all of us here today." She said softly. "To the friends we've lost, and to the friends we've gained. To everyone who fought and died to bring us this victory… and to Albus Dumbledore…" There was a collective gasp around the room. "For doing what he thought was best, for having the best of intentions, and for starting a war that brought all of us together. The war cost of dearly, but it also brought us together. It isn't enough to redeem him, but… it is something to thank him for."

"Here, here!" Harry said, while the others murmured their agreement. Hermione gave Harry a small smile and took a sip from her glass. The others smiled as well and followed suit.


	13. Back to the Future

**Chapter 13**

**Back to the Future**

**-.-**

The magical world rarely had anything to celebrate, so whenever they _did _have a reason to celebrate, they spared no expense. Repairs to Hogwarts were completed in record time and the Ministry of Magic hosted an extravagant victory celebration at the magical school.

Separated from the speeches, musical arts, and banquets down below, Hermione stood atop the astronomy tower watching the goings on far beneath her. She had no desire to be herald as a hero, which is certainly how she would be treated if she joined in the victory party, not that she minded in the least if she missed it. To her, winning the war didn't feel like victory. It felt as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Quite the party down there," A voice Hermione would recognize anywhere said from behind her. She spun around and came face-to-face with her father, Daniel Granger.

"It's okay," Daniel said softly, eyeing Hermione's right hand, which had gone straight for her wand. "I'm not here to hurt you. The spell controlling my mind is gone." Hermione stared at him.

"But how…?"

"Truthfully, I… I don't know." Daniel admitted. "But it's gone and I couldn't be more pleased."

"How do I know this isn't just a trick?" Hermione asked, her voice filled with skepticism.

"It isn't…"

"Prove it." Hermione challenged. "After everything you've done to me, how can I believe you're telling the truth?"

"I know you have no reason to trust me…"

"But you do have a reason to trust me." Emma Granger appeared out of thin air next to Daniel. "And he's telling the truth. The spell is gone from his mind."

"I know how that spell works, Mum." Hermione said. "So what happened?"

"Consider it a parting gift." Emma said with a light smile. "From an old friend."

"You don't mean… Dumbledore?"

"Indeed, I do." Emma replied. "Now, I've got to go. Busy day ahead and all that…"

"You're dead." Hermione said slowly. "What could you _possibly _have to do?"

"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I haven't got important things to do, baby girl." Emma pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mum." Hermione whispered. The pair broke apart and Emma turned to leave, and then paused. "Daniel, make sure you take good care of our little girl. You know I'll be watching." Daniel nodded and Emma vanished.

"So…" Daniel said uncertainly. "I know we're a long way from having any sort of relationship, but I… I want you to know that I would like to work on that... if you'll let me." Hermione sighed and nodded.

"I might like that." she said quietly.

"Good," Daniel said, soundly rather relieved. "That's… that's good." Hermione didn't speak for a moment. She seemed to be having some sort of internal battle.

"We're, uh… having a private victory barbeque at the manor tomorrow." Hermione said slowly. "Draco's cooking, so I'm not sure how good the food would be but… We'll still be, uh… socializing and… and whatnot, so… if you want… If you'd like to come, you'd be welcome." Daniel smiled sadly.

"I'd love to, sweetheart, but I can't." he sighed. "I can't say here, not now. I know I was under a spell, but I still remember everything I did to you. I remember the fear in your eyes every time you saw me, and I… I need time to accept what I've done."

"I forgave you a long time ago, Dad…" Hermione began, but Daniel stopped her.

"This isn't about you forgiving me, darling. It's about _me _forgiving _myself_. I'm going to go away for awhile, I don't know how long. I've got to accept what I did and move on if I'm ever going to be any sort of father to you."

"I understand." Hermione said, but her voice sounded very sad.

"I'll be back one day." he told her, gently cupping her cheek. "I promise."

"I've learned something recently about making promises," Hermione said sadly. "Don't make promises unless you're sure you'll be able to keep them."

"I'll be sure to keep this one," Daniel said. "Don't worry." He opened his arms, uncertain how his daughter would react. Hermione hesitated, memories of terror and pain flooded her mind. She pushed them aside, however, and allowed her father to engulf her in a warm hug. Daniel gently kissed Hermione on the forehead before backing away. He waved and vanished in a column of fire.

"_There _you are!" Phoebe exclaimed from the doorway. She approached Hermione with a foam bowl in her hands. "You've _got _to try this, Mi." she said, holding out the bowl. "It's a French dish that I've… what's wrong?" she asked, noticing the expression on Hermione's face.

"My dad was just here." Hermione explained quietly.

"What!" Phoebe said, looking wildly around as though expecting to be attacked at any moment.

"Its okay, Phoebe, he's gone and the spell's been broken anyway."

"Well… how did that happen?" Phoebe asked, looking back toward the door appearing as though she were certain fireballs would come hurtling from the darkened doorway at any time.

"My mother claims Dumbledore's responsible." said Hermione. "As a sort of parting gift."

"You don't believe her?"

"I've got no reason not to." Hermione said, shrugging.

"So, what did he say?" Phoebe wanted to know.

"He wants to be a father to me… He said he needs to go away and find forgiveness for what he did."

"Did he say where he's going?"

"No, he didn't." Hermione said. "As long as he's not running around naked in a forest beating on drums, I don't really care."

"So, if he is running around naked you _would _care?" Hermione shrugged.

"Maybe a little," she admitted with a slight smile.

"What are you doing up here all by yourself, anyway?" Phoebe asked. "C'mon, let's go downstairs. You ought to be enjoying yourself!"

"I'm fine, Pheebs, really. You go on down and… maybe I'll join you later."

"The woman who stopped Dumbledore ought to be down there making speeches!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Not hiding in the Astronomy Tower!"

"No one knows I'm the one who stopped Dumbledore." Hermione reminded her. "No one even knows that Dumbledore needed stopping."

"Alright, alright, fine." Phoebe relented. "If you want to be alone, I'll leave you to it. I'll be back in a bit though, and then you're coming down if I have to pick you up and carry you."

"I remember days when you _liked _carrying me," Hermione said with a broad smile. "Among other things…"

"Yeah," Phoebe said, an almost dreamy tone to her voice. "I _did_, didn't I?" Smirking, Phoebe approached Hermione and attempted to pick her up.

"If I come down, will you stop?" Hermione asked as Phoebe positioned herself to throw Hermione over her shoulder and take her downstairs that way.

"Maybe,"

"Well, fine then." Hermione replied pulling her leg out of Phoebe's grasp and walking toward the door.

-.-

"There, done!" said Hermione, scribbling down the last lines of the spell she was copying from the Book of Shadows.

"Let's see it." said Catherine, taking the slip of paper from her mother and examining it. She shrugged. "Looks good to me. I just hope we don't end up at the moment the universe began."

"Why not?" Hermione asked distractedly as she hastily flipped through the Book. "It might be fun."

"We could certainly put the great debate of how the universe was created to a stop." Catherine admitted.

"True, but don't worry." Hermione said, closing the Book and setting it aside. "You'll get back to your own time just fine. I've written enough spells to know I've gotten this one right."

Silence fell between them for a few moments while Hermione walked over and placed the Book of Shadows back on its pedestal. Catherine sat on the old, pink sofa, fiddling with the piece of paper with the spell written on it.

"I still think it was for the best." Catherine said after several more minutes. "Coming back here… doing what I did."

"I never disagreed with that, Kat." Hermione said quietly. "Your reasons were never in question… your methods were."

"I didn't have a choice."

"You did," Hermione told her firmly. "but you couldn't have lived with yourself if you had chosen differently. You were right, Kat. I never would have gone back in time to do what we did. You made the right decision… whether I like it or not. But it can't happen again."

"What can't happen again?"

"Time travel," Hermione replied. "There's been more than enough time travel and it's time we put a stop to it. It was time travel that created the universe we live in today… and if we're not careful… time travel will destroy it. So, I intend to have all methods of magical time travel destroyed and development of any future methods outlawed. We can't keep meddling with time, Kat. We can't keep trying to alter the fate of the universe."

"I think you know if I really needed to I'd still find a way." Catherine replied, a small smile playing on her lips. Hermione regarded her for a long moment before replying.

"I'm sure you would. You've always been to damn persistent for your own good."

"My persistency has saved your life more than once." Catherine reminded her mother. Hermione smiled.

"That it has." At that moment, the attic door opened and Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Draco, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Miley, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Hope entered.

"Ready?" Piper asked Catherine, holding her hand out for the spell, which Catherine quickly passed her.

"Just about," Catherine replied, suddenly sounding quite sad.

Everyone gathered around to say their goodbyes. Catherine repeatedly thanked everyone present for their help and forgiveness. At last, it was time to go. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige cast the spell, opening a spiraling portal to the future. Hermione's daughters enveloped her in a tight group hug before moving toward the portal.

"You two be good," Hermione told Miley and Danielle as they quickly hugged once more.

"We will." The twins said together before stepping into the portal and disappearing. Hope came next, hugging her mother very tightly before following Miley and Danielle. Elizabeth repeated Hope's steps, and at last came Catherine.

"I love you, Mum," she whispered as they hugged. "Thank you."

"No, baby," Hermione said softly. "Thank _you_." Catherine couldn't bring herself to reply, and instead looked at the portal.

"I guess this is it, then." she said, beginning to silently cry. "I'm going to miss you, Mum… _this _you." she added.

"Oh, I'll miss you too, Kitty." Hermione told her, starting to cry herself. "It never feels the same around here after you've gone."

"I almost wish I could stay…"

"Me too…" Hermione whispered. They hugged once more and once the whispered 'I love you's' and 'I'll miss you's' were said, Catherine walked toward the portal, Hermione close behind her. Catherine paused at the threshold and waved back at the others.

"Bye," she called sadly. Harry stepped forward and hugged his daughter as the others waved and said their own goodbyes.

"Don't take this the wrong way," said Harry. "But I really hope I never see you again." Catherine laughed.

"Yeah," she said with a slight smile. "Me too…" She turned back to her mother.

"Take care of him," she said, jerking her head towards her father. "He needs so much looking after."

"He does at that." Hermione agreed, giving Harry an apologetic smile.

"Well," Catherine said, glancing at the portal. "I suppose I've got a date with the future. See you in twenty-two years." Without another word, Catherine turned and stepped into the portal. It continued to swirl for a few more seconds before silently fading away.


	14. Daybreak

_I hope you never lose your sense of wonder_  
_You get your fill to eat_  
_But always keep that hunger_  
_May you never take one single breath for granted_  
_God forbid love ever leave you empty handed_  
_I hope you still feel small_  
_When you stand beside the ocean_  
_Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens_  
_Promise me that you'll give fate a fighting chance_

_And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance_  
_I hope you dance_  
_I hope you dance_

_I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance_  
_Never settle for the path of least resistance_  
_Living might mean taking chances_  
_But they're worth taking_  
_Lovin' might be a mistake_  
_But it's worth making_  
_Don't let some hell bent heart_  
_Leave you bitter_  
_When you come close to selling out_  
_Reconsider_  
_Give the heavens above_  
_More than just a passing glance_

_And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Rolling us along)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Tell me who)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)_  
_(Where those years have gone)_

_I hope you still feel small_  
_When you stand beside the ocean_  
_Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens_  
_Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance_

_And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance_  
_Dance_  
_I hope you dance_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Rolling us along)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Tell me who)_  
_(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Where those years have gone)_

_(Tell me who)_  
_I hope you dance_  
_(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)_  
_(Where those years have gone)_

-Lee Ann Womack (_I Hope You Dance_)

**-.-**

**Chapter 14**

**Daybreak**

**-.-**

Tuesday morning dawned bright and cold in San Francisco, California. The hustle and bustle of the city didn't quiet reach the suburbs, which were silent and still so early in the morning. The Halliwell manor was as quiet as the rest. No one was up and about inside save for one person. Hermione Granger stood on the porch, wrapped in a bathrobe and sipping at a cup of coffee.

She stood there alone for quite some time, breathing in the crisp air, until the door opened and Harry stepped outside to join her.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked her, gently pulling on her arm. "It's freezing, you need to get inside."

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't take a little cold." Hermione replied, remaining exactly where she was.

"Fine, be like that." Harry said, sitting down on the steps. "Mione, I've been meaning to ask you a question." Hermione sat down beside him.

"Then ask." She said.

"How did you know?" Harry asked. "How could you possibly have known that Phoebe was going to save you?" Hermione smiled.

"I didn't." she said.

"There's no other reason for you to have done anything as foolish as what you did." Harry replied. "You _must_ have known."

"I guessed, Harry." Hermione said softly. "I didn't know for sure. I didn't give her that vial to save my life and I certainly didn't allow her to come with me because I knew I needed her to revive me. I only let her come because I knew if I fought her on it, I'd never win.

"Once I realized she was coming, I… I took the risk. I made her promise to never let that vial out of her sight and I knew she wouldn't break a promise to me. Whether or not she would come back for me, or if she even _could_ come back for me… I gambled on the fact that I knew who Phoebe is."

"You're crazy," said Harry, quite plainly. "You know that, right?"

"Oh, I've been told before."

-.-

Despite the celebration at Hogwarts the night before, the inhabitants of the Halliwell manor decided to host a private victory party of their own. Agreeing on a cookout, they gathered on the front lawn that afternoon under a clear sky. Draco manned the grill and donned an apron bearing the words 'kiss the cook' across the front. When Paige attempted to obey the apron's instructions, Ginny cleared her throat loudly and glared furiously at Paige, who took her plate and quickly sat down.

When the dinner was through at last and the cleanup began, Hermione was to be found leaning against the right side of the frame of the stained glass front doors. Phoebe approached her, walking up the concrete steps carrying a spare propane tank.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Phoebe said, depositing the propane tank on the floor just inside the door.

"Nothing in particular." Hermione replied.

"Well, you've got this look on your face like you're thinking really hard about something." Phoebe pointed out.

"I think you might just know me a bit too well." Hermione told her. Phoebe leaned against the left side of the doorframe and smiled.

"And you know you like it that way." Hermione smiled.

"I was just thinking about Dumbledore…" Hermione confessed. "I mean, we never found his body…"

"I've heard people say he might've been incinerated by being so close to the explosion."

"That potion blew up right next to me." Hermione replied. "If I wasn't incinerated, neither was he."

"So… what then?" Phoebe asked. "You're saying Dumbledore's still out there somewhere?" Hermione shrugged.

"I can't say for certain, obviously, but I'd be very surprised if that explosion managed to kill him. He's most resourceful than that."

"Then shouldn't we be hunting him down?" Phoebe asked, sounding worried. "If he's still out there, he'll come after you again." Hermione shook her head.

"I don't think so." she said, standing aside to let Ron and Draco carry one of the fold-up tables back into the house. "I think he's finally realized that I'm never going to be what he wants me to be. Even if he survived the explosion, I don't think we'll have to worry about him again… at least not for a very, _very _long time.

"What about your children?" Phoebe asked. "One day he might try to get them to do it." Hermione nodded her agreement.

"That's true, he might. That's why I'm going to round up the artifacts that reveal the location of Atlantis and destroy them. If no one can get there…"

"Dumbledore would have to seriously rethink his plans." Phoebe finished Hermione's sentence for her.

"Exactly," Hermione said. "And who knows? He might even stop altogether."

"You actually believe that?"

"Well, no." Hermione admitted, smiling at Ginny and Luna as they entered the house carrying stacks of dirty dishes. "But after everything we've been through I've learned to never disregard _any_ possibility." Silence fell between them for a moment before Phoebe spoke again.

"So, what are you planning to do now that the war's over?"

"Actually, Phoebe, I have _no _idea." Hermione replied after pondering Phoebe's question for a long moment. "I suppose I haven't really given it much thought yet. What about you?"

"I'm like you, I guess." Phoebe said. "I haven't thought about it much. I guess I just want to be sure that the war's really over before I start making plans."

"Oh, Pheebs, we've finally got a chance to be free… to live our lives the way we want to. So, I hope you dance while you've still got time, because you're right… we may not have long before our world is turned upside down again."

"A damn fine sentiment if there ever was one." Harry said, climbing up the steps and pausing to kiss Hermione quite passionately as he passed.

"Damn, get a room will you?" Phoebe muttered. Harry was about to reply when the sound of Ron's voice echoed from the living room.

"Exploding Snap, everyone!" he was shouting.

"Well, I guess we've got a game to play." Harry said, giving Hermione another quick kiss and turning away to go join the game. Phoebe made to follow him, but stopped when she noticed Hermione wasn't following her.

"Are you coming?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, just… Just give me a minute." Hermione stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air. It was at that moment, as she stood on the front porch staring out at the clear, bright day, that it hit her. She began to laugh aloud. The war was truly over. They had come through the darkness at last and the sun had risen again. They were free.

Smiling happily, she put her hands on her hips and nodded, satisfied.

"_Good_ _day_."

She turned and went back into the house. Phoebe was waiting there for her, smiling. Hermione returned the gesture and they began walking toward the living room, and their family, arm-in-arm. Hermione paused, however, after several steps. She held up one finger to indicate that Phoebe should wait. She turned around and walked back to the door. She glanced at Phoebe, who smiled and nodded.

Hermione raised her hand and gave a small wave. A magical jingle echoed through the house and the old stained glass front doors swung closed.

-.-

Well, that's it. I'll confess that I'm rather sad to see it all end, but it's long past time to put this series to rest. I've had a lot of fun writing this thing and I hope at least some of you have enjoyed reading it. Thanks again to any and all who have read even a single chapter of A New Power. I'm off to take a very long break. Blessed Be.


End file.
